In the second in a series of blogs based on Business Link insight, we examine ways to increase market share through encouraging existing clients to buy more from you.
Sell more to existing clients
It's less time consuming and more effective to sell more to existing clients than to acquire new ones. Once you understand why existing clients buy from you, you are well placed to explore means of persuading them to buy more of your products or services.
The 80/20 rule as it applies to clients
The Pareto principle (often referred to as the 80/20 rule) says that 80 per cent of your success in any given field is often due to 20 per cent of your effort.
Use this as a starting point to analyze how you can sell more to existing clients. For example, if a small number of your products and services account for most of your profit, can you sell more of the less profitable products to your clients?
Download guidance on applying the 80/20 principle from the Chartered Institute of Marketing website (see image, right).
Or if your higher-margin products or services are being sold only to a small percentage of your clients, how can you raise that percentage?
You can also increase market share by getting clients to buy more frequently. If your research shows clients buy at a particular time, make contact with them just beforehand. For example, if you know that a business buys its stock from you at the end of each month, a courtesy phone call or letter in the middle of the month can be useful.
You can also add value to your products and services to ensure repeat business. Ask if there is anything that you can add to a service at little cost that will be valued by clients.
Think small here, rather than big. An example might be ensuring you always have a senior person n reception to greet clients upon their arrival, rather than making them wait.
Get clients to spend more
Where appropriate, encourage clients to ‘trade up’ to a premium product or service that better meets their needs, and provides a superior return for you.
You could also offer incentives and price promotions on items or services that they usually buy from competitors. Examples might include 'Buy one, get one free', or 'Buy for ten months, and get two months free.’
If you work in a service sector, you will have to be more imaginative when it comes to offering ‘more for less’ incentives. It may be that you offer clients some form of loyalty bonus, whereby five-yearly landmarks trigger a reduction in the cost of your services to them.
Related posts
How to market services to clients
Modern client marketing strategies
How to attract higher paying clients
7 step guide to attracting new clients
Increasing market share
13/07/2009
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