Copyright 2000 By Bob Leduc
Your customers already know you and trust you. It's easier
to get more business from them than to get any business from
somebody who never bought from you. Their business is also
highly profitable because there's no advertising expense
involved.
Here are 3 ways you can increase the income you get from
your customers. All 3 are effective for marketing online
and/or offline ...and they cost little or nothing to
implement.
1. UPSELLING
You don't have to wait until after making a sale to increase
the income you get from a customer. You can start while the
customer is in the process of buying for the first time.
It's called "Upselling". Here's how you can use it.
Collect the ordering information from your customer. Then
casually offer them an opportunity to upgrade to a better
quality product or service -- or to add another related item
to the order. Include a special price that's ONLY available
if the customer accepts it NOW.
It's surprising how receptive a customer is to an attractive
offer when he or she is already in the process of spending
money. Most businesses I've surveyed report about 50 percent
acceptance of their upselling offers.
TIP: You can even include upselling offers on your web site.
For example, I recently ordered a software upgrade at a web
site. After selecting the item a pop up message asked me,
"Would you like to add (item) to your order for $(special
price)? This price is only available if you order now." It
worked. I answered, "yes".
2. BACKEND SELLING
Many successful businesses make most of their profit from
backend sales -- selling other related products or services
to customers who previously bought from them. Once a person
buys from you it's easy to get them to buy again.
If you don't have other products yourself, look for
companies with products or services related to yours. Make
an arrangement to offer their products to your customers for
part of the profit.
On the Internet you can sign up with an affiliate program
offering products or services similar to your primary
product. Just announce the program to your customers and
include your endorsement. The affiliate program handles
everything else and pays you a commission.
3. REFERRAL SELLING -- PLUS...
Do you have a system to get referrals from satisfied
customers? If not, you're losing a lot of profitable sales
you could easily get.
One way to get referrals is with a brief Customer Survey.
Send it by postal mail, email, fax or post it on a web page.
The one I use asks only 3 questions:
1. What did you like best about our product (or service)?
2. What can we do to improve the value of our product (or
service) for you?
3. Who do you know trying to solve (state the problem you
solved for your customer)?
Or:
Who do you know that wants to (state the benefit provided
by your product or service)?
The first 2 questions focus attention on the benefits you
provide. Your customer is more likely to volunteer referrals
when they're thinking about the value of those benefits.
You'll also gain something from the answers to the first 2
questions. The first question often generates a response you
can use as a testimonial (with your customer's permission).
The second question may provide an early warning of a
problem you need to solve -- or alert you to an opportunity
you can exploit.
Start using Upselling, Backend Selling and Referral Selling
to get more business from your existing customers. You'll
produce highly profitable sales without spending money on
advertising.
Bob Leduc retired from a 30 year career of recruiting sales
personnel and developing sales leads. He is now a Sales
Consultant. Bob recently wrote a manual for small business
owners titled "How to Build Your Small Business Fast With
Simple Postcards" and several other publications to help
small businesses grow and prosper. For more information...
Email: BobLeduc@aol.com Subject: "Postcards".
Phone: (702) 658-1707 (After 10 AM Pacific time)
Or write: Bob Leduc, PO Box 33628, Las Vegas, NV 89133
The Trainers Directory will not sell or otherwise distribute the information you share with us. By requesting information from us, we infer you grant us permission to stay in touch with you to advise you of similar services offered by the Trainers Directory. If at any time you decide not to receive correspondence from us, simply send us an e-mail, and we will remove you from future distributions.
For more detail, please read our "Privacy Policy".