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December 3, 2023 14 mins

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#003: What if your existing customers are the untapped goldmine for your small business? Join me, Lily Richmond, as we uncover this treasure trove, revealing the incredible potential for growth that's right under your nose.
This episode explores the importance of your existing customers in driving sales, and we'll dive into fascinating statistics that prove it. 
I'll also share seven nifty tips to elevate your sales – without burning a hole in your pocket. If you're eager to sharpen your marketing skills and give your small business that much-needed boost, this episode is a wealth of insights you won't want to miss.
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Episode Transcript

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Introduction (00:05):
Welcome to the Small Business Marketing Huddle.
Our show is all about takingaction.
We equip you with the marketingknowledge and confidence you
need to make real progress.
So let's huddle up and listenin to the latest episode with
your host, Lily Richmond.

Lily (00:31):
Hey, this is Lily.
Thank you for being here todayfor episode number three.
If you're already subscribed tothe show, thank you so much.
You do make the huddle awesome,and if this is your first time
here, don't forget to subscribe,because today, like in every
episode, I'm going to break downa marketing topic that I really

(00:53):
believe you've got to learn tomaster your marketing.
And make sure you listen untilthe very end, because I'm going
to give you seven quick and easyways to grow your sales without
blowing the bank.
So today we're going to talkabout how you can grow your
sales quickly, cheaply and,hopefully, effectively, and the

(01:15):
reason why I wanted to teach youabout this topic.
It isn't driven, really, by thefact that many small businesses
have a small budget.
To be honest, in my 22 plusyears of working in marketing,
I've never worked with aninexhaustible budget, and there
is always a never enough for thewish list conversation.
That happens in a business andbudgets are managed tightly, and

(01:38):
that holds true whether thebudget for your business is
$1,000 a year or half a milliondollars a year.
So my goal of discussing how togrow your sales on a shoestring
is really to help you uncoverthe opportunities that are
sitting right under your nose.
So let's get straight into it.
When we work on our marketing,it's really easy to get caught

(01:59):
up in the chase for newcustomers.
Now, don't get me wrong Asteady stream of new customers.
It's really critical to keepyour business growing.
I know that for certain, butwhat I do see time and time
again is a lack of focus onexisting customers.
All those people that havepurchased from you or worked
with you before that have beenleft sitting in a database or on

(02:22):
a spreadsheet or languishing inan email marketing list
somewhere untapped and unloved,and they are a wealth sparing of
opportunity for you and yourbusiness if you pay attention to
them Now.
Throughout my career, I've donea number of roles managing
existing customer marketing and,okay, it isn't as sexy as going

(02:44):
out there with a flashy newcustomer acquisition campaign I
get it, but it is reallycritical and a valuable and
often really overlooked streamof marketing that you, as a
small business owner, shouldreally prioritize.
And why is that?
Well, let me just give you somestatistics that might blow your

(03:05):
mind a little bit and get youfocus.
It costs about five times moreto get more customers than to
keep existing ones, and if thatisn't a juicy enough statistic
for you, your probability ofselling one of your products or
services to an existing customeris upwards of 60%, but for a
new customer it's anywherebetween five and 20.

(03:28):
Now, existing customers becausethey know who you are, they're
also much more likely topurchase a new product from you.
So if they purchased aparticular product or service
that you offer and you've got awhole range of products and
services that you could offerthem, they're 50% more likely to
come and purchase a new productfrom you.

(03:48):
They also spend, on average,upwards of 30% more than a new
customer.
So not only are they morelikely to purchase from you,
when they do, they're going tospend more than a new customer.
And that makes sense, right?
If you think about your ownbehavior.
When you go shopping forsomething or you use a

(04:09):
particular service, if it's abusiness that you've purchased
from before and you trust themand you like them and you know
them, then you are more likelyto spend with them.
I certainly know that.
I do that myself as a consumer.
Existing customers are alsogreat because they are more
likely to recommend you toothers, and this is free
advertising and we all know thepower of influences in this day

(04:31):
and age, and it doesn't have tobe an influencer that's on
social media.
It could be one of your friends, it could be someone at work,
it could be a family member andthey recommend a business to you
, then you're likely to trustthat recommendation, and that
applies to your small businesstoo.
So once existing customers havehad a great experience with you
, they are much more likely torecommend you.

(04:52):
Free advertising Awesome, okay.
So I hope these stats have madeyou sit up and take notice of
your existing customers.
They are a really, reallyvaluable source of revenue to
your business over the long term.
And, as I've said in previousepisodes, chances are your

(05:12):
competitors aren't focusing hereeither, and that makes it a
great opportunity, because ifyou've got an existing database
of customers and you give themthe love, then you're more
likely to get more sales and winin a competitive environment.
Now we'll talk in futureepisodes about how to build
customer loyalty, because that'sa whole big topic that we can

(05:34):
unpick in a number of episodes,but for today, I'm just going to
share some easy, quick firewaysfor you to grow your sales from
your existing customers.
Are you ready?
Let's go All righty.
Well, first things first.
Okay, I have to point outthey're really obvious but

(05:55):
ignored task that many businessowners really do neglect, and
that is capturing your customerinformation.
And you need to do that in somekind of a database.
Now, it doesn't need to beflashy, it doesn't need to be a
bells and whistles CRM system,but they are great.
And if you want to use one,that's awesome.
It could be your emailmarketing software, but it could
even be a spreadsheet that'scapturing the key metrics about

(06:19):
your customers, the key contactdetails, what they've purchased
from you before, maybe how oftenthey've purchased, so those
sorts of things you can becapturing.
It doesn't have to be fancy, sodon't let that stop you from
getting started.
Okay, now an important note asan aside on capturing and using
customer data you've really gotto make sure that you comply

(06:40):
with the marketing and privacyrequirements of your country
first.
So if you are not familiar withthe regulations in your country
and your jurisdiction, thenplease make sure you go and
research that first.
Please do swap up on those,because you don't want a full
foul of any regulations in yourcountry and, of course, I can't
give you any advice on that.
Okay, so you are capturing yourcustomer data.

(07:02):
Now what?
How do you go about growingthose sales?
Here are seven ways that youcan grow your sales from your
existing customers on ashoestring budget.
So let's get through them superfast.
Number one use your customerdata to tailor your offerings.
You know a monthly genericemail out to your entire

(07:22):
database is not enough, as Imentioned earlier, for your
marketing to your existingcustomers to be powerful.
It needs to be tailored.
You do know information aboutthem.
You probably know somedemographic information, but
also you are going to knowthey're purchasing history with
you.
What products and services havethey bought from you before?
How often have they purchased?

(07:44):
How much do they spend everytime they purchase with you?
This information is really,really powerful because it
allows you to send thosecustomers tailored marketing
offers for the things thatthey're interested in and you
can anticipate when they'reready to buy next.
So that's the first thing usingyour customer data
intelligently.
If you're not capturing thatsort of customer information, I

(08:05):
think a key action for you is togo away and think about how you
might be able to capture thatinformation to use in your
marketing going forward.
Number two is regular customercommunications.
You know whether this issending out an email or it might
be communicating, engaging withyour community on social media.
Keep in touch.
If you stay what we like tocall in the business top of mind

(08:27):
, then you really increase yourchances of getting the sale.
You know, think about yourself.
If you're a consumer and you'rethinking about buying a
particular product or serviceand you see a brand that you've
shopped with before keeping intouch with you, maybe sharing
useful content on social media,that brand is front and centre
and that could be just the pushthat you need to buy.

(08:49):
Number three remind yourcustomers about your products
and services.
Don't fall into the trap andmake the assumption that your
customer knows all about all ofthe products and services that
you sell.
To be honest, they're notthinking about your business.
They don't care about it likeyou do.
So you've really got to remindthem of the value that you can

(09:09):
bring to their lives with whatyou offer.
So don't feel shy aboutreminding your customers about
the products and services thatyou offer.
Okay, number four is the upsell.
So, depending on your businessand the nature of what you're
offering is, you might be ableto upsell a customer to a
different or higher price pointproduct or service, and this can

(09:30):
be hugely profitable Because,as we've already talked about,
this customer has purchased fromyou already.
They trust you, they know youand hopefully they like you
because you've delivered a greatcustomer experience for them.
So they are much more willingto give you that chance and buy
a higher price product or arelated item maybe to what
they've purchased in the past.

(09:52):
And if you don't have a productor service that could be used
as an upsell, then have a thinkabout developing one.
There could be opportunitieshere for you that you are
leaving on the table if youdon't have an upsell strategy
for your existing customer base.
Number five is a goodie which Ilove, and it's called Surprise
and Delight.
Yeah, give your existingcustomers some love.

(10:15):
You know it could be a customeror subscriber only discount.
It could be a free resource ora tool that you only make
available to them, or maybe it'sadvanced access to any sales or
new products that you'relaunching.
If you make your existingcustomer feel valued, then
they're more likely to shop withyou again.

(10:36):
Number six is a bit of a bugbearof mine.
This one just drives me mad.
You know, if you're a businessthat needs to generate quotes to
create your sales.
So you know, a consumer callsyou up, requests a quote for you
to come out and do some workfor them, then the aim of the
game here is just to be the mostresponsive.
So that's a really easy way andit doesn't cost you a thing.

(10:59):
With your existing customers,if they are requesting another
quote from you, prioritize it.
And finally, number seven is allabout asking for referrals, and
you know I'm guilty of this andit's something that we often
forget to do when we are headdown and so busy in our
businesses.
Right, whether it's astructured program with an

(11:20):
incentive, like a refer a friendprogram, you know where you
both get a discount if you referyour friend to a business.
Or it could be something moreinformal.
You know, if you're aservice-based business and
you've just finished a clientengagement, ask them for a
referral.
Say to them do you know anyoneelse who would benefit from my
service?
You know, could you connect meto them?

(11:41):
You would be so surprised athow willing other people are to
refer you when they have a greatexperience with your business
specifically.
So don't forget to ask forthose referrals.
It's kind of that whole thingif you don't ask, you don't get.
Okay, so those are my sevenquick tips on how you can boost

(12:01):
your sales on a shoestringReally quickly.
I'm gonna go over them again.
Number one make sure you useyour customer data to tailor
your offerings and yourcommunications to your customers
.
Number two communicateregularly.
Keep in contact.
When was the last time you wentout to your customer base?
These are really simple thingsto do.

(12:21):
Number three remind yourcustomers of your products and
services.
Your customer doesn't thinkabout your business like you do,
so it's important that you keepthat top of mind with them.
Number four is upselling Reallyvaluable, because we know that
existing customers are morelikely to purchase and they're
more likely to spend more.
So make sure you've got aproduct or service offering that

(12:42):
you can upsell.
Number five surprise anddelight.
You know, throw something intoa package where the customer
order that goes out.
Offer a subscriber onlydiscount.
There are lots of reallycost-effective ways that you can
reward your existing customersand generate that loyalty.
Number six be responsive toquotes the supplies to you and

(13:02):
your business.
That's a key one, really easyto fix but really important.
And finally, number seven don'tforget to ask for those
referrals.
Okay, so that is the end of theepisode.
Thank you so much for joiningme in the huddle today.
I do hope you enjoyed theepisode and got some great tips
that you can apply in yourbusiness.

(13:23):
Now don't forget to hitsubscribe, because next week I'm
gonna explain why it's soimportant for you to understand
who the real decision maker iswhen someone buys from you.
And sometimes it's not theactual person that pays the bill
.
This can really supercharge theeffectiveness of your marketing
, so I don't want you to miss it, so make sure you subscribe.

(13:44):
And finally, one last thingthat I would love you to do once
you've listened to this episode, is head over to my website and
grab yourself a copy of my freemarketing for revenue growth
guide, and that's gonna help youprioritize your marketing to
the stuff that actually growsyour revenue.
You can get it atmarketingondemand.
co/ growth guide and growthguide is all one word.

(14:11):
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode and I will
catch you next time in the SmallBusiness Marketing Huddle.
Now for the legal jargon.
This podcast is for informationand education purposes only.
We make no business performanceclaims or guarantees in the

(14:34):
information shared.
The podcast content is generalin nature and does not
constitute advice for yourunique business situation.
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