Here's an interesting article making the case that during our current difficult economy it is easier to make sales to existing customers rather than look for new ones. The article provides several tips for finding out what customers think about your business. One thing the article doesn't mention but that might be a useful tool is a followup call or e-mail to the customer to see if they are satisfied with their recent purchase and the buying experience. Has your business come up with anyway to find out what is on your customer's minds?
One other big question is whether your business is seeing any changes in your core customers. If you do repairs are you seeing more repairs and less new purchases? We'd like to know what your experiences have been.
The point that I am making to my clients is to identify your core customers, nurture each of those relationships in as personal way as possible, and then turn to them through referral programs and special events to introduce to you their networks of friends and contacts. In this way you are leveraging your existing customers to bring in your next tier of customers, with a positive, relatively inexpensive approach.
Posted by: Ted Hurlbut | June 13, 2009 at 08:27 AM