Who’s your most expensive customer? Chances are, the one you don’t have yet. The cost of acquiring new customers is high; the cost of upselling your existing customers is relatively low.
Again and again, I run into marketing leaders – smart people with an otherwise solid understanding of their business – who see their mission exclusively as selling to new customers. The best, most sustainable businesses invest in their customers not just to win new revenue, but as a hedge against competition. They understand how precious their customers are and are willing to do the hard work to retain and grow their business.
So how do you sell to your current customers?
- Understand their needs. If account management is part of your business model, you should already have people on your team who are close to your customers. Start by talking to them. If not, you need to understand more about the people who are buying your product; do it by any means necessary… focus groups, surveys, and phone interviews are all great, low-cost ways to start.
- Break them into targetable groups. The idea is to break your customers into distinct segments based on their needs and the way they use your product today. For each segment, decide what the most logical next product or service would be. This sounds hard; it’s not.
- Integrate upselling into the overall customer experience. How are you touching your customers today? Look at their whole experience – from point of sale through to service – and think about building a continuous upsell path into the whole cycle. Think about it from their point of view: what do you have to offer to help their business? How can you embed opportunities for them to adopt the best new services or products into the way they currently work with your business?
- It’s not just about net new sales. Your goal is not simply to sell more, it’s to sell the best possible solution to each individual customer. You should goal your business not just on sales, but also on satisfaction.
The only thing that might cost you more than winning a new customer is having to “rescue” a customer on the verge of leaving with special attention, services, and discounts. Investing in your current customer base and finding new, smarter ways to build stickiness and revenue has never been more important.
