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Making More
With Existing Clients
©2005 by Charlie Cook
Have you ever put on a jacket you haven't worn
in a while
and found a twenty-dollar bill in one of the
pockets? You'd
forgotten all about it, so discovering it is
like getting a
gift. If you've been in business for a year or
longer, you
may have gifts in forgotten pockets - sources of
additional
revenue waiting to be discovered and tapped.
There are four ways to increase your net
profits: reduce
costs, increase prices, attract more clients or
sell more
to existing clients. When you consider that it
costs you at
least 60% and as much as 600% more to sell to a
new client
than to an existing one, it's clear that your
best
prospects are existing clients.
Are you selling as many of your services or
products as you
could to your existing client base? Could you
increase your
revenue by doing a better job of marketing to
your existing
clients?
You've established your credibility and the
value of at
least one of your services with existing
clients. They made
a commitment to work with you at least once. How
can you
leverage this trust and client satisfaction into
additional
sales?
Click Here to Start.
Tony
called me from Washington D.C. with just this
problem. He is an image consultant to politicians and
corporate
executives and struggling to increase his revenue. His new
clients are happy with his services, but the engagements
rarely extend beyond the initial contracted project. He is
having a tough time getting repeat business. Tony knows his
existing and past clients represent additional revenue but
he doesn't know how to mine it.
Once you have a client, what's the best way to sell them
more of your products or services?
The biggest mistake that most small business owners make is
to think that after they've competed the initial s.ale,
their marketing job is completed. The opposite is true.
Once you've made your first s.ale to a client and secured a
commitment from them with a payment, you should begin your
marketing effort to get them to buy again.
Of course, you don't want to constantly be "selling" to
clients. That would get tedious for you and your customers
and they'd be unlikely to want to maintain the
relationship. Instead, continue to educate them about
their areas of need and how you help clients. Use your
products and services to provide value and to educate
clients so they can discover what they need and want, even
if they've n.ever thought about it before.
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For example, I've been working with a sports
trainer to
complete my recovery from shoulder surgery. In
our first
session he showed me which muscles needed to be
reprogrammed with exercise to return to normal
functioning.
The obvious conclusion of his explanation was
that I needed
to work with him again to achieve my goals. Just
by sharing
a little knowledge he successfully extended the
project.
This approach isn't clever or devious; it is
based on the
notion that an informed buyer - an educated
consumer - is
your best client. Here's how it works in
practice:
1. Help Prospects Become Clients by Focusing on
their
Problems
People buy solutions to problems or needs that
they know
exist. Get your prospects' attention by focusing
your
marketing message on the problem(s) you solve in
order to
get them to visit your web site or contact you.
Then use
your conversation or your marketing copy to help
prospects
further define their problems or concerns. Do
this well and
they'll clearly see the need for your products
and
services.
2. Continue to Educate Prospects and Clients
Clients buy from you when they know how you can
help them.
That's why they initially contracted with you or
bought
your products and services. Once you've signed
on a new
client, don't assume that they understand the
range of
services or products you market. They may not
even fully
understand what they've bought. Use each contact
to
continue to educate your clients and help them
understand
the issues, problems and solutions relative to
your area of
expertise.
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For example if you're a financial advisor and
you've been
hired to help a client with their investments,
you might
ask them a q.uestion about their estate
planning, tax
situation, insur.ance policies or retirement
plan and
provide them with an idea they can use. Each
time you do
this your client will learn how limited their
own knowledge
is and understand more about why they need your
assistance
in additional areas.
Instead of selling clients on additional
services, educate
them. You'll create a perception of need and
increase
s.ales.
3. Transform Client Satisfaction into Additional
Sales
Do you have clients and customers that
appreciate your
products and services? Don't wait until your
contract is
complete to tap the goodwill you've generated by
helping
them. Regularly ask them q.uestions designed to
get
responses like, "I couldn't have done it without
you",
"Worth every penny", etc. Just after your
clients have
provided positive feedback is the perfect time
to ask them
a couple of q.uestions to identify needs and to
mention the
solutions you provide.
Once you've gone to all the effort to attract a
new client
don't walk away from the rest of their needs
just because
they haven't identified or clarified them yet.
Educate your
prospects and clients at every step of the way
about the
problems you solve and they'll understand why
they need
more of your products and services. You'll
discover pockets
of opportunity to help your clients and increase
your
revenue.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
The author, Charlie Cook, helps service
professionals,
small business owners and marketing professionals attract
more clients and be more successful. Sign up to receive the
F.ree Marketing Plan eBook, '7 Steps to get more clients
and grow your business' at
http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
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