Dear Reader

How often does one of your clients say “I didn’t know you did that?” How many times has one of your clients told you that they’re using someone else to provide a service that you can provide for them? Frustrating, isn’t it?

So why does it happen? Because despite what you’d like to think, your clients do not know everything that you can do. They don’t know about every single service you can provide. Why not? Because they’re not telepathic! They can't read your mind so they don’t know that you’ve added a new service to your range; they’re not in your office, so they haven’t heard you talking about your new products.

How can you sell more to your existing clients? Share your thoughts by clicking here to answer my latest question on LinkedIn.

Best wishes,

Chantal

Do Your Clients Know Everything You Do?

People keep telling me that it costs far more to take on a new client than to keep an existing one. I don’t have any figures to support this, but I do know that many people don’t think about their existing clients when they think about developing new business. It’s very easy to rush off to look for brand new clients, spending money on the marketing and then spending time on setting them up. There are other ways of doing it, for less time, effort and money.

• Persuade your clients to buy more of what you’re already selling them.

If you currently provide half a day of month of your service to an existing client, do they need more of your time? If they are taking on more members of staff and you provide HR services, they may need more time and expertise from you. Talking to them on a regular basis will help you spot opportunities and know about their plans for the future.

• Increase the number of times a client buys from you.

If your customer buys a certain number of times from you each year, you can encourage them to buy more often. Instead of limiting their purchases of scented candles to Christmas and family birthdays, why not encourage them to buy gifts for Valentine’s day, Mother’s day or Easter? Regular communications that give your clients ideas on how to use your products and services will get them thinking ahead about what they need from you.

• Develop new products and services for your existing clients.

Don’t let your clients go to a competitor because they don’t think you can provide what they need. Listening to the challenges that your clients face will provide you with opportunities for new products and services. And telling a client that you’ve created something new, just to help them solve a problem, will always go down really well.

Once you’ve identified whether you can provide more, more often or something new, you then need to tell your clients what’s available. Don’t assume that just because they buy from you already, that they know everything you do. Don’t let your competitors jump in while you rest on your laurels.

Do your client know everything that you can do? When did you last tell them? What's the best way to tell them? Share your thoughts by clicking here to answer my latest question on LinkedIn.

Here’s What We Do

Because you’re not telepathic, here’s a list of all the services that we now provide:

Blogs, Book Writing and Publishing, Copywriting & Proofreading, CSR, Customer Research, Databases, Event Management, Email Newsletters, Graphic Design, Market Research, Networking Training & Opportunities, Online Marketing Campaigns, PR, Promotional Photography, Sales Processes, Social Media, Telesales, Twitter, Videos, Website Development, Website Performance Reviews and Vision & Mission Creation.

Not all at the same time, of course! We pull together the best services from our best strategic partners and project manage the whole affair for you.

What Else Do We Do?

When we're not doing marketing, we do half marathons! Please sponsor me as I run across Salisbury Plain on 1 May 2011 by clicking here.

Send to a Friend

You can send this newsletter to a friend.

Still Scribbling?

You've received this issue of Scribbles because you asked for it or I thought you would find it useful. If you would rather not receive any more issues of Scribbles, please click here and you’ll be unsubscribed.