Give Your Clients a Little Love and Watch Your Profit Grow
There’s a sales strategy for agencies that doesn’t really feature in sales training classes or even books on selling, and yet it’s the easiest way to increase overall revenue (and profit margins!)
For some reason our collective business psyche has decided that acquiring completely new clients is how you define sales. Everyone’s chasing after those elusive new logos, exhausting themselves and feeling defeated because it’s hard, hard work. And it takes waaaaay longer than you think it should.
Why do we all forget about the clients we already have?
Existing clients already know, like and trust you. Half the battle has already been won!
If you set up your ‘sales’ processes to spend some time developing existing client relationships you’ll increase sales revenue without the usual costs of acquisition. And that means more profit.
Even if selling is one of those things you have to force yourself to do, focusing at least some time loving your current clients is a sales strategy that will help your agency grow so much faster without all the angst.
How to Get New Business from Existing Clients
Create a culture of regular review sessions for retained clients and make it a part of your process to have an end of project review for any project-based clients
Take your clients out to lunch regularly (you’re creative - figure out how to have virtual lunches if you can’t meet in person)
Talk to them as people first, clients second
Learn what’s important to them
The Questions (and Answers) that Lead to New Business
Then, and this is the most important part, ask questions about what’s coming up for them at work and maybe even at home. Find out what their organization is trying to achieve in the next 6 months, 12 months, 18 months. Really listen to the answers.
I guarantee that most of the time you’ll uncover opportunities where you can support your clients further, maybe even with services they didn’t even know you offered. Suddenly you’re not just another vendor, but a trusted partner.
If you’ve already delivering an outstanding service, a little more client love will reward you with more revenue producing sales, more referrals to new potential clients, and most importantly, more profit.
Cha-Ching!