There are only three ways to grow your business.
The three ways are:
- Increase the number of enquiries
- Increase the number of enquiries that become jobs (conversion rate)
- Increase the average value of each client
This will also work with your existing client base. Most businesses focus on growing their business by just getting more new customers, more new customers. But getting a new customer is one of the most expensive things you will ever do. Yet most businesses overlook the customers they already have, even though they have spent a great deal of time and money acquiring them.
The real leverage is in working the ’back-end.’ In other words, focusing on the customers you already have and selling them more of what you have or selling them a different service that they haven’t had from you.  Now, why does this make sense?
Well, it’s much harder to get a prospect to use you for the first time as opposed to getting an existing customer to use you again. Depending on which studies you read, I’ve seen reports stating that it’s between six to sixteen times easier to sell to your existing customers than it is to get a prospect to use you for the first time. Why is this?
It’s because you need to win them over... to get them to trust you. After all, we work in peoples private homes. And they are very careful who they let into their homes. Also we go where other contractors do not. We work in their bedrooms and other private places and see things that other workmen do not. They really do need to trust us before they let us do that. So it’s foolish to build up that trust and then simply let the relationship go.
But are you thinking “my customers are ‘loyal’ and will always know how to find me?â€
In todays busy world, customers forget their suppliers very quickly...even if they are satisfied! It has been estimated that every month that passes by without contact, a customers loses 10% of their ability to recall who they bought from. So after a year...its all gone! That’s why it’s important to have regular customer communication, even if you have delighted customers.
This alone will increase your number of enquiries..and is much cheaper than the cost of getting new prospects to trust you. Your conversion rate should also be better than normal because these are customers who know and trust you. They already know the quality of your work and service. You are also increasing the average value of each client as the cost of acquiring them the second time is much lower. It may simply be the cost of a reminder letter after twelve months.
I’d recommend spending at least 70% of your marketing budget on marketing to your existing clients and only 30% on getting new customers. This shift alone will cause exponential growth in your business.