Introduction: 0:05

Welcome to the Small Business Marketing Huddle. Our show is all about taking action. We equip you with the marketing knowledge and confidence you need to make real progress. So let's huddle up and listen in to the latest episode with your host, Lily Richmond.

Lily: 0:31

Hey, this is Lily. Thank you for being here today for episode number three. If you're already subscribed to the 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 down a marketing topic that I really believe you've got to learn to master your marketing. And make sure you listen until the very end, because I'm going to give you seven quick and easy ways to grow your sales without blowing the bank. So today we're going to talk about how you can grow your sales quickly, cheaply and, hopefully, effectively, and the reason why I wanted to teach you about this topic.

Lily: 1:18

It isn't driven, really, by the fact that many small businesses have a small budget. To be honest, in my 22 plus years of working in marketing, I've never worked with an inexhaustible budget, and there is always a never enough for the wish list conversation. That happens in a business and budgets are managed tightly, and that holds true whether the budget for your business is $1,000 a year or half a million dollars a year. So my goal of discussing how to grow your sales on a shoestring is really to help you uncover the 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 up in the chase for new customers. Now, don't get me wrong A steady stream of new customers. It's really critical to keep your business growing. I know that for certain, but what I do see time and time again is a lack of focus on existing customers. All those people that have purchased from you or worked with you before that have been left sitting in a database or on a spreadsheet or languishing in an email marketing list somewhere untapped and unloved, and they are a wealth sparing of opportunity for you and your business if you pay attention to them Now.

Lily: 2:36

Throughout my career, I've done a number of roles managing existing customer marketing and, okay, it isn't as sexy as going out there with a flashy new customer acquisition campaign I get it, but it is really critical and a valuable and often really overlooked stream of marketing that you, as a small business owner, should really prioritize. And why is that? Well, let me just give you some statistics that might blow your mind a little bit and get you focus. It costs about five times more to get more customers than to keep existing ones, and if that isn't a juicy enough statistic for you, your probability of selling one of your products or services to an existing customer is upwards of 60%, but for a new customer it's anywhere between five and 20.

Lily: 3:28

Now, existing customers because they know who you are, they're also much more likely to purchase a new product from you. So if they purchased a particular product or service that you offer and you've got a whole range of products and services that you could offer them, they're 50% more likely to come and purchase a new product from you. They also spend, on average, upwards of 30% more than a new customer. So not only are they more likely to purchase from you, when they do, they're going to spend more than a new customer. And that makes sense, right? If you think about your own behavior. When you go shopping for something or you use a particular service, if it's a business that you've purchased from before and you trust them and you like them and you know them, then you are more likely to spend with them. I certainly know that. I do that myself as a consumer.

Lily: 4:21

Existing customers are also great because they are more likely to recommend you to others, and this is free advertising and we all know the power of influences in this day and age, and it doesn't have to be 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 and they recommend a business to you, then you're likely to trust that recommendation, and that applies to your small business too. So once existing customers have had a great experience with you, they are much more likely to recommend you. Free advertising Awesome, okay. So I hope these stats have made you sit up and take notice of your existing customers. They are a really, really valuable source of revenue to your business over the long term. And, as I've said in previous episodes, chances are your competitors aren't focusing here either, and that makes it a great opportunity, because if you've got an existing database of customers and you give them the love, then you're more likely to get more sales and win in a competitive environment.

Lily: 5:28

Now we'll talk in future episodes about how to build customer loyalty, because that's a whole big topic that we can unpick in a number of episodes, but for today, I'm just going to share some easy, quick fireways for you to grow your sales from your existing customers. Are you ready? Let's go All righty. Well, first things first.

Lily: 5:53

Okay, I have to point out they're really obvious but ignored task that many business owners really do neglect, and that is capturing your customer information. And you need to do that in some kind of a database. Now, it doesn't need to be flashy, 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 email marketing software, but it could even be a spreadsheet that's capturing the key metrics about your customers, the key contact details, what they've purchased from you before, maybe how often they've purchased, so those sorts of things you can be capturing. It doesn't have to be fancy, so don't let that stop you from getting started. Okay, now an important note as an aside on capturing and using customer data you've really got to make sure that you comply with the marketing and privacy requirements of your country first. So if you are not familiar with the regulations in your country and your jurisdiction, then please 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 your country and, of course, I can't give you any advice on that.

Lily: 6:59

Okay, so you are capturing your customer data. Now what? How do you go about growing those sales? Here are seven ways that you can grow your sales from your existing customers on a shoestring budget. So let's get through them super fast.

Lily: 7:15

Number one use your customer data to tailor your offerings. You know a monthly generic email out to your entire database is not enough, as I mentioned earlier, for your marketing to your existing customers to be powerful. It needs to be tailored. You do know information about them. You probably know some demographic information, but also you are going to know they're purchasing history with you. What products and services have they bought from you before? How often have they purchased? How much do they spend every time they purchase with you? This information is really, really powerful because it allows you to send those customers tailored marketing offers for the things that they're interested in and you can anticipate when they're ready to buy next. So that's the first thing using your customer data intelligently. If you're not capturing that sort of customer information, I think a key action for you is to go away and think about how you might be able to capture that information to use in your marketing going forward.

Lily: 8:12

Number two is regular customer communications. You know whether this is sending out an email or it might be communicating, engaging with your community on social media. Keep in touch. If you stay what we like to call in the business top of mind, then you really increase your chances of getting the sale. You know, think about yourself. If you're a consumer and you're thinking about buying a particular product or service and you see a brand that you've shopped with before keeping in touch with you, maybe sharing useful content on social media, that brand is front and centre and that could be just the push that you need to buy.

Lily: 8:49

Number three remind your customers about your products and services. Don't fall into the trap and make the assumption that your customer knows all about all of the products and services that you sell. To be honest, they're not thinking about your business. They don't care about it like you do. So you've really got to remind them of the value that you can bring to their lives with what you offer. So don't feel shy about reminding your customers about the products and services that you offer.

Lily: 9:17

Okay, number four is the upsell. So, depending on your business and the nature of what you're offering is, you might be able to upsell a customer to a different or higher price point product or service, and this can be hugely profitable Because, as we've already talked about, this customer has purchased from you already. They trust you, they know you and hopefully they like you because you've delivered a great customer experience for them. So they are much more willing to give you that chance and buy a higher price product or a related item maybe to what they've purchased in the past. And if you don't have a product or service that could be used as an upsell, then have a think about developing one. There could be opportunities here for you that you are leaving on the table if you don't have an upsell strategy for your existing customer base.

Lily: 10:07

Number five is a goodie which I love, and it's called Surprise and Delight. Yeah, give your existing customers some love. You know it could be a customer or subscriber only discount. It could be a free resource or a tool that you only make available to them, or maybe it's advanced access to any sales or new products that you're launching. If you make your existing customer feel valued, then they're more likely to shop with you again.

Lily: 10:36

Number six is a bit of a bugbear of mine. This one just drives me mad. You know, if you're a business that needs to generate quotes to create your sales. So you know, a consumer calls you up, requests a quote for you to come out and do some work for them, then the aim of the game here is just to be the most responsive. So that's a really easy way and it doesn't cost you a thing. With your existing customers, if they are requesting another quote from you, prioritize it.

Lily: 11:05

And finally, number seven is all about asking for referrals, and you know I'm guilty of this and it's something that we often forget to do when we are head down and so busy in our businesses. Right, whether it's a structured program with an incentive, like a refer a friend program, you know where you both get a discount if you refer your friend to a business. Or it could be something more informal. You know, if you're a service-based business and you've just finished a client engagement, ask them for a referral. Say to them do you know anyone else who would benefit from my service? You know, could you connect me to them? You would be so surprised at how willing other people are to refer you when they have a great experience with your business specifically. So don't forget to ask for those referrals. It's kind of that whole thing if you don't ask, you don't get. Okay, so those are my seven quick tips on how you can boost your sales on a shoestring Really quickly. I'm gonna go over them again.

Lily: 12:06

Number one make sure you use your customer data to tailor your offerings and your communications to your customers. Number two communicate regularly. Keep in contact. When was the last time you went out to your customer base? These are really simple things to do. Number three remind your customers of your products and services. Your customer doesn't think about your business like you do, so it's important that you keep that top of mind with them.

Lily: 12:32

Number four is upselling Really valuable, because we know that existing customers are more likely to purchase and they're more likely to spend more. So make sure you've got a product or service offering that you can upsell. Number five surprise and delight. You know, throw something into a package where the customer order that goes out. Offer a subscriber only discount. There are lots of really cost-effective ways that you can reward your existing customers and generate that loyalty. Number six be responsive to quotes the supplies to you and your business. That's a key one, really easy to fix but really important. And finally, number seven don't forget to ask for those referrals. Okay, so that is the end of the episode. Thank you so much for joining me in the huddle today. I do hope you enjoyed the episode and got some great tips that you can apply in your business. Now don't forget to hit subscribe, because next week I'm gonna explain why it's so important for you to understand who the real decision maker is when someone buys from you.

Lily: 13:35

And sometimes it's not the actual person that pays the bill. This can really supercharge the effectiveness of your marketing, so I don't want you to miss it, so make sure you subscribe. And finally, one last thing that 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 free marketing for revenue growth guide, and that's gonna help you prioritize your marketing to the stuff that actually grows your revenue. You can get it at marketingondemand. co/ growth guide and growth guide is all one word. Thank you so much for listening to this episode and I will catch you next time in the Small Business Marketing Huddle. Now for the legal jargon. This podcast is for information and education purposes only. We make no business performance claims or guarantees in the information shared. The podcast content is general in nature and does not constitute advice for your unique business situation.