Increasing sales and revenue is an ongoing challenge for any sales team. Even with pivoting to various techniques, up-skilling and training, and building new processes, you might still find your team a step behind where you want to be. One of the most effective and efficient ways to improve your team’s sales efforts is by focusing on existing customers.
You may have a program that periodically contacts those who have already gone through the sales cycle about new or upcoming products or services. On the other hand, some of your salespeople might connect with current customers through ongoing communication, whether that involves updates or maintenance, to ensure they are happy with what they bought. While these aspects of the sales process are important in maintaining a customer base, they can also be a gateway to increasing sales with existing customers.
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When reviewing your sales process, you might wonder why you should focus on existing clients when you can always try to acquire new ones. The answer is simple:
Consider the lengthy and unpredictable process of nailing down new leads and the sales cycle you typically go through. Rather than expend time and resources on starting at the beginning, you can turn your attention to the end of the process, where potential clients have become customers. These are the people who have already shown an interest in your products or services, and you don’t have to spend time guessing or understanding their pain points and potential solutions available. Strong customer relationships entail an attentive audience receptive to your team’s message and a higher probability of repeat business.
Your loyal customers are your most valuable asset. They already know your brand and have had a positive experience with your products or services. As they went through the sales cycle, perhaps your team members learned a few things along the way that improved their techniques. They may have gained better insight into how to maintain customer relations. Ultimately, these customers completed a purchase, left a review, and were pleased with what they bought. By focusing on your current customers, your team can build strong customer relationships and increase customer satisfaction.
Selling to your existing customers has several advantages. While it still requires time and effort from your team, it may be a shorter process or require less investment than selling to new leads.
Now that we have established the importance of focusing on existing customers, let's look at some tips on how to increase revenue from them.
One of the easiest ways to increase revenue from existing customers is by offering upsells and cross-sells. Upselling is the practice of providing a more expensive version of a product, while cross-selling is the practice of offering complementary products. Encourage your sales team to be strategic in their offerings, especially since they already know about the business they are selling to. Avoid generic opportunities that might work with new clients since these customers have already seen that presentation, that metric, or that infographic. Instead, embrace following up on previously mentioned details, and take these as opportunities to bridge gaps with upsells and cross-sells. Doing this means your team can increase the average order and provide additional value to customers.
Dedicating time to improving customer service is never a bad thing, but it’s especially important to enhance this aspect of your business when working with current customers. It’s also an opportunity to ensure that your team is equipped to continue selling to them. Check that your sales team is responsive, knowledgeable, and friendly during all exchanges. The more comfortable clients feel about approaching your team and having their questions answered, the more empowered they can feel when making another purchase.
Demonstrate how to build personalized relationships with existing customers by understanding their needs and preferences. Implement efforts where your sales team connects with them on an ongoing basis so they have a foot in the door in case their needs for your product change. Highlight the importance of scheduling meetings that touch base about relevant details and topics that could be of interest to your customer base but that aren’t always sales-focused. This will help to build trust and loyalty, which can lead to return sales when the time is right.
Where possible, use facts and figures to review how your current efforts are working to increase sales to existing customers. If actions have thus far been organic, it’s understandable that the metrics might show weaker results. In that case, use data and analytics to understand customers' behavior and preferences. Consider how quickly the product or service was implemented, the feedback from the customer, what needed to be changed or updated, whether that was completed in a timely manner, and so on. You might also review what time of the year is most common for contract renewals and focus your analytics on that. Whatever information you determine is important for enabling your team to personalize offerings and tailor marketing messages.
Businesses are ever-evolving, meaning the sales approach or process that might have worked for them a few years or even months ago may currently carry a different or lesser impact. Consider your team’s sales process when you first sold to this customer; what was different about it? How can you update and improve it for the present and future regarding this organization? Maintaining the same quality and tone is essential, but your team’s approach should adapt and improve to cater to the needs of the business now. Training can help highlight the various possibilities regarding sales approaches that you may not have considered.
Funnel Clarity is a sales training, coaching, and consulting company that can help you optimize your sales process. We offer various courses and programs to improve skills and approaches and overcome obstacles in the sales cycle.
We understand sales inside and out and can provide opportunities for you to enhance your team and improve its success. Part of our offerings is account manager training, where sales people can learn how to expand their existing business base with assessments, value mapping, and increasing customer contacts. You can use these skills throughout contract renewals or at any point once the initial sales cycle has been completed. To learn more about how to grow sales with existing customers, connect with us.
