Traditionally, small business owners look to marketing to generate new business for their company to continue to grow revenue. Still, there is a significant opportunity to do that without bringing a single new customer onboard. Customer retention and upselling are often overlooked in small business marketing plans but should be a substantial role in any marketing effort you undertake. If your marketing plan doesn’t include retaining and upselling existing clients, learn why it needs to and how to add it to your marketing efforts today for more revenue tomorrow.
According to Shopify, upselling is a technique used to get a customer to spend more by buying an upgraded or premium version of what’s being purchased. Related to upselling techniques is cross-selling, which involves offering the customer a related product or service.
The basic fact is this: there are only three ways to bring in sales to your company:
While your small business should always focus on all three, the second and third bullets above may be easier to accomplish, especially during economically challenging times. First, there is the economics of obtaining new customers versus keeping and/or upselling the ones you already have. Acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one, according to Harvard Business Review. Here are a few more interesting facts based on the HBR article:
We talk a LOT about the value of content marketing for small businesses. The challenge is that many companies large and small assume that the content they create should help attract new customers, but it really should include content to support existing customers as well. Consider these content examples that can help your existing clients:
It’s surprising how few businesses adopt an effective referral program, yet it’s one of the best ways to grow your small business. The power of referrals for small business owners can’t be understated! Consider this:
If you aren’t actively marketing a referral program for your small business, now is the time.
Almost every company that offers any kind of discount, coupon, etc. does so with the intent of attracting new customers, some going as far as to offer the best pricing to new customers, and excluding existing clients from taking advantage of great deals, but perhaps we’ve gotten this model backward the whole time. Here’s why offering discounts and coupons to existing customers is a good idea:
While no company should stop trying to acquire new business, make sure your marketing plan also includes retaining and upselling existing clients to continue growing revenue.
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