It costs five to ten times more to find and cultivate a new customer than to keep one you already have. In addition to the financial cost of bringing new customers into the fold, time and energy expended as well. Sometimes, businesses are overly anxious to finish up a project or fulfill a sale and move to the next one. This leads to a customer being dropped like a hot potato when the next best thing comes along. It seems like a no-brainer to keep existing, satisfied customers, than forgetting about them. Below are several strategies for getting high results if you maximize your existing database of past and current customers.
How you can maximize your existing database
- Add on to current projects. Any time one facility, area or space is remodeled or redesigned, surrounding areas with existing finishes and furnishings begin to look tired and dusty. Suggest adding other adjoining areas to the contract as the project is moving smoothly along. Pointing this out to the customer while they are feeling good about the work you are doing or the product you are providing is a way to expand your scope of work. Suggest how adjoining spaces might be better utilized or productive increased by introducing new, cutting edge products and solutions. Stay alert for opportunities.
- Ask about other projects. As you near the end of a project, use that warm, fuzzy time with the client to ask if there are other projects you can help with. Ask what other plans or projects they have in the hopper that could use your products or services. Remind them of other services you offer. They can be experiencing other problems or challenges that your solutions can resolve.
- Stay in contact with customers. It is imperative to stay in touch, especially businesses that have long periods of time between projects,. The next time a client has a project, you want them to remember you and call again. Develop a plan to reach out to current and past customers on a regular basis. Sent out a company newsletter with strong, valuable content. E-mail daily or weekly tips related to their business or related situations. Drop them a note or letter several times a year. Send a birthday card with a small gift like a Starbuck’s card or special discount, or even a brief personal note from time to time. Send articles of value to them or their business. The idea is to keep your name in front of them enough to keep you their top-of-mind resource.
- Ask for referrals. Try not to hit customers with a request for referrals at the last possible moment as a project wraps up. Early in a project as things are progressing well, mention they probably know others who could benefit from your services or products. Don’t pose your inquiry as ‘Do you know…?’ (which almost always results in a ‘No’ response). Use a more positive ‘You probably know others…’ approach for better results. Tell clients you’ll remind them at your next meeting about referrals,. It’s better but to give them time to think and not put them on the spot.
Why stress your staff and your budget to find new customers when you haven’t capitalized on the customer list you already have? Remember that it takes five to ten times the cost to find and nurture new clients. Why not maximize your existing database of existing and past customers instead?
Let us know in the Comments section below other ways you have used your existing customer base to develop more work or sales.
Great article Terry !
Recently led a roundtable on blogging and emphasized the value in, if you weren’t already , doing a newsletter to your existing customer base…good way to warm up to blogging but also easier as is a defined group you’re addressing rather than open ended virtual world …. And, as you say a resource to stay tapped into. Agree 100 plus %!
It’s amazing how many people in business ‘drop’ a customer once a sale is made or a project completed, assuming that customer is now ‘theirs’ and will automatically come back. Today’s customers and clients are a fickle group. They have access to ‘the world’ now via the Internet. So many more options, so many more choices exist. Staying in touch keeps you top-of-mind next time the customer is in the market for your products or services. Thanks for contributing your comments.