When you think of boosting revenue, chances are you think about acquiring new customers. But why not look to your existing customers instead? You spent a significant amount of time and money winning them over in the first place. Why not keep them or encourage them to buy more from you now that you have them? If you treat them right, they can become your most fertile ground for growing sales.
Here are some of the key categories for this approach:
Cross-sells
These are products related or complementary to ones your customers already have. For example, if they recently purchased a new television, they might be interested in a Roku or Apple TV as well.
Upsells
Here you are selling new or upgraded versions of products customers already own or are looking at. If a family owns a 2015 Honda Accord, it might be time to see if they want to trade it in for the 2019 model.
New product introductions
Every company introduces new products. Who better to introduce them to than to people who already like your stuff? Direct mail showing previews and sneak peaks is a great way to generate excitement.
Inventory clearance
There is always inventory that needs to be cleared to make way for the new. Clearance prices are a great way to woo new customers, but you are likely to get a better response from existing ones.
Relationship-building
The value of winning new customers grows over time. The longer customers remain loyal to you, the more their lifetime value grows. Sometimes marketing designed purely for relationship-building has a value of its own.
How to maximize customer marketing? Track, test, and analyze results the same way you do any other target audience.
