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Quit making introductory offers to strangers and start engaging with past customers happy they did business with you.
4 min read
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Stores around the country are looking to make more sales and increase revenue, but many are failing. Why is this?
While many businesses waste money on ineffective advertising targeting leads that go nowhere, very few are focused on activating what I call your "power base." Every store has them. Your power base includes large databases of previously sold customers and people who are coming in for service who may have bought products or services elsewhere.
Targeting your power base is literally a multi-million-dollar game-changing opportunity, and I will tell you why: Most businesses are spending more time and energy marketing to strangers than the people closest to them.
Of course, you want new people to know about your business, but do not put your power base on the backburner. You need to make retaining customers and building loyalty a top priority because every business -- no matter the industry -- has a better chance of selling to an existing customer than a new prospect.
Here’s how to mine the gold out of your power base:
Get a good CRM
You have to stay organized to stay in contact with customers. Many stores have invested in CRM, but the staff doesn’t use it. I know most CRM’s are a pain, but not using a CRM is a bigger pain. Buy the easiest CRM software solution you can find for your staff and commit to actually using it. The ability to bring up customer information at a moment’s notice is a game-changer. If you don’t use one, you will never be able to use targeted, individualized offers for people because you won’t know anything about them.
Related: 4 Ways Entrepreneurs Are Getting Customer Relationship Management All Wrong
Stay in communication with past buyers.
More engagement, with a good strategy in place, will equal more sales. You can’t be passive and just hope people will come back. You must have your staff engage your customers with new, and better, buying opportunities. With a good CRM in place, you can cross-reference the data with any new incentives you have on specific products to create more targeted prospects.
Related: How to Pick a Customer Relationship Management Tool That Fits Your Business
Don’t limit service to your service department.
How many customers come through for some service or repair issue that could be potential buyers if presented with a good offer? Few businesses have a good strategy in place to engage service customers to upgrade their products or services. Remember that specific is better than generic. You must have the right offers to the right people, communicated at the right times, with individualized, value-added opportunities to upgrade their product or service.
Related: 4 Ways to Tailor Your Marketing to Each Customer
Train your people.
Having the best CRM tool in the world won’t make a difference if your staff isn’t motivated and equipped with the skills necessary to close deals down. In my experience, the best businesses with the most revenue make daily training mandatory. Whether it’s on prospecting, the sales process, follow-up or closing, there are great training programs out there that will lead to increased productivity and sales.
Your power base is your vehicle to more sales. Getting your staff trained to take advantage of these leads is the fuel for that vehicle. Few stores have adequate training or proper processes in place to drive success. You can close more sales every week by engaging those in your power base who are eligible for upgrades. Putting all your focus on new customers is reinventing the wheel.
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