Looking to increase sales in this recession? Your past and current customers are your best customers. Most companies are looking to get more from their existing investments, not to make new investments. That means that the current vendors and suppliers can have a significant advantage over a new player.
A great analogy is close to home. Think about your automobile. You may want to buy a new car, who doesn’t! But, right now you want to drive the car for more years, get better mileage and enjoy your wheels. You want to get the most from that investment. Companies feel the same way about the investments that they have made.
More years of operation. The more years that a company can use a product significantly improves it’s return on investment (ROI). If your sale was initially made on an ROI basis, review the ROI benefits with the customer. Demonstrate that they have indeed received those returns. It will build trust and add credibility to your company. It also allows decision makers to affirm the good decision that they have made.
- Sales opportunity: This provides a great opportunity to offer new service options with extended hours, more comprehensive coverage and extended terms.
Get better mileage. If a product performs well over time customers build strong brand loyalty. As your product or service is in the marketplace new applications for use, new ways to optomize performance and better utilization techniques arise. Make your customers aware of these ways to “get more mileage” out of their existing investment.
- Sales opportunity: Here is an opportunity to provide advanced user or technical training. Drive brand loyalty and followers by setting up user groups, user communities, blogs or user networks (which BTW can also attract new users!).
Better performance. Business needs change and your customers want their investments to keep up with changes. Customers don’t always remember that you offered more capabilities than they originally purchased. Perhaps they did not need them at that time or couldn’t justify the cost. Upgrades are significantly more cost effective than switching out products.
- Sales opportunity: Great time to talk with customers about upgrades, add-ons, new features and product extensions. It’s the same as the car analogy where you might consider new tires, a new sound system, seat covers or a new paint job.