One of the easiest things to do, but something that many people and businesses FAIL to do, is to look after their existing customers. Your after sales and customer service performance is the key to longevity. The ONLY companies who can survive with bad customer service and bad after sales are compnies that have no competition. If they have a monopoly they can do what they like.
So...
Look after your existing customers and they will buy more product.
Here's a secret: Looking after and selling to existing customers is far easier than looking for new customers.
In doing so, here's a few tips from the Dynamic-Life Academy Sales course.
1. Be clear about the benefit. I don't care what country those wellington boots were made in, or the moulding process, or the fact that there are 7 ridges in the sole and four in the heel...I am buying DRY FEET. So TELL ME that my feet will be dry!
2. Make it simple and easy to buy from you. Don't get caught up in red tape and BS with contracts. Make them clear, easy to read and quick to complete. Swap the small print for big print and show that you are hiding nothing. If you tell them they are getting X, then make sure they get X. Throw in a Y for good measure. DO NOT give them Y IN PLACE of X! If you do you can expect your customer to give you the finger!
3. If you don't enjoy what you are doing then nobody else will either. You can quite easily transmit your boredom, disbelief and lack of confidence in your company and products if you hate what you do. Hating what you do has a direct correlation to how much you earn.
4. You only need one golden apple. Doing what others do is fine but do it differently. Be You-Nique http://themooreconsortium.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/you-nique.html
5. Who you surround yourself with is who you become. Choose your staff and associates carefully. Don't be chosen by those you would not choose. Be very careful about your associations.
6. You have to be so visible that everyone associates you with what you do. That's a great position to be in. Immediately, people know your company by your image or name. There is a downside to this though. If you become indispensable, if you ARE the company, people expect to get you. Thats great but you will never ever be able to sell your business should you want to. You ARE the business. Don't run a company that you cant sell to someone else.
7. Communicate clearly and simply but do it with the RIGHT people. It sounds mercenary but why waste your time with people who are not going to buy from you? I know associations are great but if your business needs to make money through sales, talk to people who have the authority to say yes.
8. Your best salesperson is....drum roll....no, not you! It's your CUSTOMER. Nothing attracts people to your company better than raving fans so get your customers to write a testimonial and put it on your website or in your literature. Better still, film them talking about how great your product is and put that video on your website and youtube. Video tesimonials are gold.
9. All the work you did in aquiring your customers? Multiply it by 5. multiply it by 10! That's the amount of work you need to do to keep them. Never leave trap doors open for your customers to slip thru. You MUST have a commitment to your customer. They do NOT have a commitment to you! You need to create their commitment to you!
Make sure you leave your footprint in cement and not sand. The tide of your competition will not wash it away!
10. Employ people who are smarter than you. Don't fear it. You need them. Once u compromise on the quality of ur people, compromising becomes the norm. Pretty soon u have an average company full of average people
And one more thing...
It's clear that if all you are doing are things the way you always did, you're doomed
