With the economic dowturn still with us, despite encouraging signs that the worst may now be over, many small businesses will have experienced ‘shrinkage’ in their customer base.
And that leaves you fighting your competitors for a smaller and smaller share of the market (until your competitors go under, anyway).
Actually, there is a bountiful supply of business for you, and the good news is you already have it.
Businesses experiencing a downturn always tend to look out for new opportunities, forgetting to take great care of the customers they already have.
But the easiest money your business can get is from existing clients. Someone who has a relationship with you is much more likely to spend money with you again. And because you haven’t had to spend any marketing money to get that sale, it is more profitable for you.
Here are seven ways you can make it harder for existing customers to walk away from your business:
Communicate the way they want you to
If you sell to teenagers you need to be on Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Twitter, and use SMS text messages and instant messaging. If you sell to over 50s, you probably need to communicate with them using more traditional print methods and over the phone. Look at your core audience and ask how they communicate. Then use their methods, not the ones you prefer.
Send newsletters
It’s essential to communicate with clients regularly and newsletters are a great way to do this. Email newsletters are very cost effective. They are great for knowing exactly who has read them and if they clicked through to your website, but are far too easily deleted (plus we all get loads of emails every day meaning they are more likely to be missed). Printed newsletters are a lot more expensive but are much more likely to hang around an office, generating you business in the future. There are some very easy-to-use and cost effective newsletter distribution services out there, notably MailChimp and Constant Contact which may be worth an initial look.
Send something to show you are thinking about them
How exciting would be to get a newspaper clipping in the post from a supplier, with a note saying “I saw this and thought you would find it interesting”? Smart businesses put in place formal systems to ensure they have regular contact with customers in this way… but if you do this, ensure clients don’t know you have a system, as it takes some of the magic away.
Remember special occasions
Use a customer relationship manager such as the free Highrise to keep track of birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other special occasions. Send a card or small gift to your biggest clients and ensure you do it consistently – it will stand out more if you do it one year and never again. Some businesses send Valentine’s cards to their clients every year. This can be a more effective way of standing out than sending a Christmas card at the same time everyone else is.
Pass referrals
If you supply business to business, see if you can find business opportunities for your own clients. They will be incredibly grateful, even if the referrals don’t turn into work for them. One of the world’s largest networking groups BNI has a phrase “giver’s gain”. The principle is that if you give business, people will want to give business back to you. This works outside of networking groups too!
Make them feel good about doing business with you
Why not throw a party. Or host a small event at a racecourse. Or send champagne for no reason. Or drop by for a cup of tea, or phone for no reason. People buy people, and the more you can make your clients like you, the more business you will do together
Say thank you
This is possibly the most important item in this list. You should thank every single customer for their business at every opportunity. Put the message on invoices. Start every letter with a thank you. Remember to say it on the phone. Everyone has a choice, and that means they must actively choose to stay with you. Hearing those two words is so rare in business sometimes, it can be a real point of difference.