Sales teams put all their effort into lead generation… ask any salesperson! They will say it’s the most challenging part of the job. But most companies are missing out on opportunities by ignoring customers they already have. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70%, where the likelihood of selling to a new prospect is less than 25%.
Why’s that? If your company has been doing a good job, then history is on your side. You’ll already be aware of the ins and outs of the customer’s needs & you can propose a tailored solution to meet their needs.
65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers, but most only spend 21% of their marketing budgets on customers they already have.
There are obvious points, but there are a few things to consider before marketing to existing customers:
• What do they buy and when?
• How much do they currently spend with you?
• What led them become a customer of yours in the first place – cost? pain points?
• You’re the expert! If they have x, could you offer them y to advance and help them provide a better service?
Competitors will appear more innovative and attractive because there is a chance you’re still selling the same package to your client that you had previously pledged to them 14 months ago. There’s no progress in that approach, and you haven’t provided any additional value.
There are two different stages of the customer lifecycle retention & advocacy.
Marketing to Customers in the retention period
It’s not all about selling an additional service to that single customer. The post-sale period is the most critical test for your client relationship. You’ve sold to them, but now you must keep them. If you don’t ‘wow’ them, that relationship can go south very quickly.
It’s all about their interactions with your product or service that will either turn them into advocates or walking examples of why someone else shouldn’t buy from you.
So, how can you ensure that a customer will turn into a walking advocate of your service?
• Follow-up calls and emails offering customer support
• Can your customer be added to a pre-defined series of onboarding emails?
• Share product-focused, tutorial-style blogs, videos, webinars to add value
• Get feedback, send surveys, and lean on the front-line staff to keep a pulse on the opportunity
Marketing to Customers in the advocacy period
Advocacy is when you’ve reached the stage where your customer loves you and your product, and they’re ready to tell the world about your service.
To ensure that customers continue to love, you need to help grow their business, and to do that, you need to continue to offer them new solutions so that they can win the battle they have against their competitors.
Final Thoughts and How Candio Can Help
Candio is a purpose-built organisation to help Telecoms, IT & Utility companies increase their recurring revenue. Partnering with Candio will give you access to a range of self-service products designed to help small to medium businesses improve their online visibility whilst increasing your monthly recurring revenue.
Partner with us, and we will do the following:
• Provide your customers with either Web Listings or Website Optimiser
• Run a tailored marketing campaign into your existing customers and provide them with a 60-day free trial of either service
• Train your sales team with the USP & FAQs, so that your team can deliver success
If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Candio partner, click here to arrange a meeting with our BDM, Tom Chedham.
