The goal of any business is growth. Growth can take many forms but for many businesses growth translates to sales. Whether your company is business to business or consumer facing, customer acquisition can be one of the most expensive aspects both in time and monetary cost. Customers are bombarded thousands of times a day with commercials, advertisements, and marketing, how can you convince them that your product or service is right for their needs?
One of the most often overlooked sources for new customers is your existing customer base! If tapped into correctly, existing customers can become your most valuable salespeople because they can convert a higher percentage than your sales staff. The question then becomes, what is the best way to leverage your existing client base for maximum customer acquisition? Keep reading below to find out more.
Why Your Existing Customers Are Your Best Salespeople
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of why existing customers make the best salespeople. What it all boils down do is psychology. When talking about marketing or advertising, there is a great deal of psychology that goes into it and the concept behind existing customers as salespeople is no different. Social proof is this idea that people adopt the behaviors and actions of others under the assumption that this is the correct behavior to exhibit. For example, if a book reaches number one on the bestseller list and is being raved about, you are much more likely to go pick up a copy of the book because it has to be good right? More and more consumers rely on reviews before ever trying a product, because if an item has hundreds of one or two star reviews then it must not be worth your hard earned money. This isn’t to say that this thinking is correct, however that doesn’t change the fact that many people use social proof as a shortcut to having to do extensive research on their own.
What can be even more persuasive than an online review? A personal recommendation from a friend, family member, or even an acquaintance. If one of your customer’s has a friend that is looking for a computer repairman and they recommend your computer repair business, that friend is significantly more likely to try your company than if they had just seen your brochure or ad in passing. Furthermore, when customer’s refer people to a business that they have previously used or purchased from, it makes them feel better about their relationship to that company.
Ways to Turn Your Existing Customers in Your Best Salespeople
Before implementing any of the following suggestions, it is imperative that you ensure that your business is consistently achieving high customer satisfaction. If you are having issues with quality or performance those issues must be sorted out first to make sure that you actually have happy existing customers. Nothing is worse than having unhappy customers leave negative feedback about your business. Once you are sure that you have a happy existing customer base, the following can help turn them into your best salespeople.
Simply Ask for Referrals
Sometimes the best option is to just be direct. Invite your existing customers to share their experience with friends or family. Simply reminding your customers to spread the word can have a huge impact with little effort on your part.
Make the process easier by making social sharing buttons easily accessible and visible at various points on your website, after purchase, and in e-mails correspondence.
Incentivize Referrals
You know what is better than asking for a goodwill referral from a customer? Rewarding that goodwill! Creating a small but meaningful incentive to a customer can be rewarding for everyone! If you offer a customer a percentage or dollar amount off their next purchase for each referral that converts, you are not only gaining a new customer but enticing the existing customer to purchase again in the future.
Ask for Reviews
You can also ask customers to leave reviews for your product or service, either on your own website (if your site has that capability) or on various other platforms. An important but often overlooked aspect of many reviews is getting customers to share pictures of themselves with or using the product.
Use Client Logos on Your Website or Marketing Material
Do you have a recognizable or well-known clients? Share their logos on your website or marketing materials. When consumers see that a well-known client has used your business this also acts as a kind of social proof. If a big name company or person is using your business it translates to an increased trust and willingness to engage.
Keeping and acquiring customers is a tough job, but one that can be made easier if you leverage all of the options you have available to you. See how BeeKash can help your business grow, Apply Today!