How to increase sales with existing customers
No matter your company size, there’s always one common goal amongst businesses – to increase revenue. Your first instinct may be to task your sales and marketing team with finding brand new, fresh leads. And while generating more leads is important, you could be missing out on a crucial source of revenue – existing customers.
The sales cycle doesn’t end when you seal the deal. In fact, with a pre-existing relationship and knowledge of your client’s needs, some would argue that selling to an existing customer is easier and less time-consuming than spending time chasing a new and unfamiliar lead.
Studies suggest that acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than nurturing an existing one. So, if your business focuses their attention on finding new clients over retaining current ones, it might be time to reframe your strategy.
Let’s explore all the different ways to increase sales with existing customers to encourage long-lasting relationships and repeat purchases.
1. Cross-sell additional products
Cross-selling is essential to boosting revenue. What is cross-selling? Cross-selling is the action of selling additional products that complement the customer’s initial purchase or a service that they might be interested in based on their buying history.
I’m sure you’ve received plenty of “Because you liked A, you’re going to love B” emails in your time. This is an example of cross-selling, and a lot of times it’s attempted through email marketing. By segmenting buyers of a particular product on your marketing platform, you’re able to target them correctly and offer products that complement their purchase – products that they might actually want.
If email marketing isn’t an option, training your sales or customer success teams to cross-sell over the phone or during a meeting is the way to go. Listen out for customer’s pain points during conversations and see if any of your products can solve their issues.
2. Seek upselling opportunities
Upselling is used to encourage a customer to upgrade their purchase to a more expensive version. Say you’re purchasing a new phone, the provider will give you an option to add more memory for an extra cost – this is an example of upselling. When it’s done right, it’s a great way to gain some extra revenue.
When it comes to upselling to existing customers, you’re offering them a more advanced version of a product they’ve already purchased, so you need to offer upgrades that aren’t worth missing. Market the upgrade with a limited time discount, so they’re more likely to be tempted due by reduced prices. Or, if you’re an SaaS provider, give them a free trial to test out the enhanced version of your software so that they can see the benefits for themselves.
3. Stay in contact after the sale
Once a deal is closed, your first thought might be to move on to the next customer. But your contact with your newest buyer shouldn’t end there. Setting up a programme or a routine to stay in contact with existing customers is essential to developing long-lasting relationships.
Individuals remember one-of-a-kind customer service and will stick to what they know if it’s working for them. To help with your service efforts, invest in a fully functional CRM to keep track of your clients and any incoming support cases. With systems like Sugar, you’re able to notify certain members of your team to contact a customer that hasn’t been spoken to in a while – keeping the conversation going.
4. Measure your customer churn rate
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, customer churn rate measures the percentage of customers that end their relationship with your company within a particular period. Customer churn rate varies from business to business and can be higher or lower depending on the services you provide.
If you’ve never dived into your churn rate, now might be a good time to start analysing. If you find that you’re regularly losing customers within a short time period, there might be a problem with your customer retention and the services you provide. Some businesses need to measure this rate more than others, especially companies that deal with subscriptions, renewals and memberships.
Once you know why your customers aren’t committing to your business in the long-term, you can make informed decisions to improve your products and customer service processes.
5. Invest in AI-powered sales tool
You don’t have to do everything yourself! There are beneficial sales tools out there to help your team know what to sell and when. With the rise of AI, comes predictive insights that save you time-consuming research and help you close the deal quicker.
Platforms like sales-i exist to help you increase sales with existing customers by delving deep into customer’s buying habits and see your missed and potential opportunities. Sales-i tells you what your customer has purchased, and what they could be interested in purchasing with a percentage of likeliness, helping your team target the right customers.
Interested in increasing your sales with existing customers? Explore our selection of sales and customer service tools to help you retain long-lasting relationships.
