by Terri Gray

Relationship marketing is essential to your business success. Did you know . . .

• Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.

• Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers.

• It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to a customer.*

With that in mind, here are 9 ways to increase sales & encourage repeat business:

KEEP IN TOUCH

“You Can Only Get What You Want, If You Help Enough Other People Get What They Want.” ~ Zig Ziglar

1. Make a list of all your satisfied customers and call 5 of them each day asking them about other ways you might be of assistance to them. Talk to them about other products and services you offer and how they might be able to use them.

2. Send hand-written thank you notes immediately after the sale

3. Create a “Welcome Kit” with a special offer for a second purchase that you can send to each new customer

4. Start an email newsletter. If you don’t have your customer’s email addresses, start collecting them now. And make sure that you get email contact info from your future customers. Bookstores and other offline retailers are great at asking if they have your email address so they can send you discount offers. If you have an offline location, be sure to ask your cusomters if they want to receive special offers from you via email and then get their email address. If your business is totally online, have a sign-up form where site visitors can get additional info or have special offers sent to them via email.

We can install mailing list management software on your server, or you can use a 3rd party solution like ConstantContact.com. >> Contact US for more information.

CREATE MORE VALUE

“We get paid for bringing value to the market place.”
~ Jim Rohn

5. Actively look for leads, resources, articles and information of interest, that you can share with your clients and call or email them with the information.

6. Search for your clients on Networking sites like Twitter & LinkedIN and “join them” on that network (You’ll be able to discover what your clients are interested in and can uncover ways that you can better meet their needs.)

7. Start a blog. By adding new content to your site on a regular basis, you can keep your customers coming back to your site for more information and to see what special offers you may have. Blogs also help with your search engine rankings.

You can get a free blog at: Blogger.com or WordPress.com (Be sure to read the terms of service on the free blogs, IE: they can delete or discontinue service at anytime and you could lose your content and you may be authorizing them royalty free rights to use your images, content etc.)

If you would like to have a blog installed on your existing website, let us know. We can install the software, customize it to blend with the look of your website, and provide training in using it. >> Contact Us

ASK FOR REFERRALS & TESTIMONIALS

8. Remember to get testimonials from your satisfied customers. You don’t need anything lengthy for use on your website or in print materials. So sometimes, it is better to ask for a “quote” about their experience working with you or about your product/service.

9. Ask for help. Your satisified customers trust and like you and would love to help you out. Why not ask them if they know anyone that could benefit from your products or services? You could call or email them to touch base and at the end of the conversation say … “By the way, I was wondering if you could help me out?” I’m looking to expand my client base and wondered if you know anyone who . . .

• Is looking for a new home?
• Just purchased a new home?
• Is starting a new business?
• Just had a baby?
• Is thinking about remodeling their home?

Referrals are always a great lead source. Many times we just forget to ask. Remember to ask your friends, family and associates as well. Yes, even the people we are closest to forget what we do and that we are always looking for new business!

* Source: “Customer Relationships Are Key to Your Marketing Strategy” By Laura Lake, About.com