Sales: Growing Your Business With the Right Marketing Mix

Keep the Customers You Have Happy—and Coming Back for More

When you first launched your business, you likely focused most of your energy on reaching new target markets, establishing your clientele, and building market share.

As your business grows, however, you’ll find that you’ll need to shift your focus from just acquiring new customers, to retaining your existing customers.

If you’re looking to grow your business revenue year after year, selling more to existing customers is a cost-effective way to go. Getting repeat business costs less than getting new business; consider the costs of advertising, networking, offering a “free consult”, or other incentives to new markets. And, there’s the risk new leads won’t buy.

Developing a strong relationship with existing customers can turn them into loyal customer evangelists; that is, they don’t just buy from you, but they also tell others about you and help increase your sales with the passion of their referral. Here are some ideas for creating customer loyalty.

Align the “Four P’s” for Customer Retention

• Have you added new products or services? How do they fit in your original product or service offering? Do they meet the needs of your current customers, or open new markets?
• Evaluate your pricing strategy. Have you priced yourself out of the market? Can you increase your prices without affecting sales? Or have you low-balled your prices to gain market share? Typically it’s more difficult to raise prices than to lower them; can you offer new features or benefits that can justify a price increase?
• Assess your current target markets. Are you effectively reaching your target markets and fulfilling their needs? Are the markets you’re serving profitable? Can you expand into new markets? Sometimes you can find a niche market that has been overlooked by other businesses.
• Look at your promotions and positioning strategies. Can you allocate more of your budget to promotional campaigns, or find new, creative ways to promote your business? Does your brand image still reflect what you want your business to be?