Often when business owners are searching for ways to make their ventures more successful, they jump straight to developing a strategy to increase audience size.
Of course, gaining new clients is a fantastic thing and a huge achievement for any small business, though it is not the be all and end all. Pushing your current clients and making the most of them is one of the best ways to push your business forward.
Getting increased amounts of revenue from your current client base is a brilliant way to grow as a company and improve your cash flow. However, the key to achieving that is knowing how to accomplish it, which is what we want to talk you through today.
Ways to earn more revenue from your existing customers
There are a number of ways that you can earn more revenue from your existing customers. One way is to upsell them on higher-priced items or services.
Another way is to cross-sell complementary products. You can also encourage them to buy more frequently, or to buy in larger quantities.
Finally, you can offer loyalty discounts or rewards programs to encourage repeat business. By using one or more of these strategies, you can boost your revenue and keep your customers happy at the same time.
Way to retain clients
If you know how to retain clients and customers, your business venture will go from strength to strength without doubt. This is because it essentially halves the amount of work you have to do and the jobs that are required of you to complete.
Think about it like this, if you are able to retain 100% of your clients (we know this is unrealistic), you will never have to go searching for new ones again. You likely spend a lot of time doing that currently, so being able to stop would likely save you heaps of funds and time.
The first step in beginning to retain more clients is understanding why they leave a business. Take this example about customers for instance, which can also be applied to clients:
It has been found that the most common reason behind a customer leaving a business and stopping spending money with them is because they don’t feel like they are valued. 68% of customers say they leave a business because they think it doesn’t care about them. If you can show you clients that they are valued, you’ll be on the right track to keeping them around and improving your profit margins.
Value your clients
Continuing on from our previous point, the best way you can show that you value your clients is to do just that. You should really value them. If you are genuine and make the effort to show how important your clients are to you as a business owner, then you’ll have no trouble in capturing their hearts and turning them into loyal customers of your brand.
Thank them when they make a purchase from you. Let them know you are grateful that they’ve chosen to utilise your services and not those of others. There are a large number of ways you can show your appreciation to your client base, and you should not shy away from doing so.
Conduct the right research
Gaining more business from your current crop of clients is no easy feat to achieve. To give yourself the best chance of being successful here, you need to firmly understand the people and business’ you are working with.
By conducting the proper research in and around your marketplace, you will develop your knowledge and keep yourself in a great position to retain clients for longer periods of time than you have been able to before now.
Once you have all the relevant information that will help you in your journey to maximising revenue from your current clients, you’ll be able to do a number of things that you couldn’t beforehand. For instance, you’ll be able to offer better thoughts during business meetings, share further developed insights with your own team, as well as clients, and offer more well-informed solutions.
This will all go a long way in proving the level of commitment you have to your clients and customers, making them more likely to choose to utilise your services in the future. This will in turn boost your profits and keep your revenue levels high.
Offer some incentives
You never need to cheapen your products and services by offering extremely discounted prices to your cliental, although incentives do often help to keep them on board. This will aid clients in avoiding other businesses and coming to you first, before seeking out one of your many competitors.
If you have clients that use both your own business and others for very similar things, you should think about what you can offer that they cannot. Sure, discounts are great and work as a motivator in keeping clients on board with your venture, but there may be other offerings you can make too.
Maybe you can offer premium services, such as expert guidance and advice on certain situations, or extra support during key stages of business development for your clients’ ventures. Do what you can to take your offerings to the next level rather than solely relying on discounted services to see you through.
Keep up your image
Clients often don’t want to work with companies that are publicly struggling or have any other overall image problems and issues. If you are struggling financially for example, don’t go out and spread the word looking for pity; no business wants to pay for the services of a company that might not be able to carry out a job for them because they are at risk of insolvency, etc.
Keep your private matters to yourself in order to save face for your business and try not to steer away your current crop of clients by making your business’ issues public property. If you want to keep people on board, let them know what you’re doing well and when, but leave them firmly in the dark about the difficulties you are facing as a business from time to time. Remember, all companies go through financial stresses, it is part of the journey.
With that in mind
Speaking of financial difficulties, perhaps your business venture is currently facing cash flow issues. If so, then we are absolutely here to help you get through this tough period and build toward a brighter future for yourself.
Invoice Factoring is a type of business finance which releases cash currently tied up in outstanding customer invoices. This financial solution is ideal for helping fund expansion plans, improving your cashflow and getting hold of customer payments.
The key points to consider
- Clients and customers alike want to feel valued by your business, so make an effort to show your appreciation for any purchases or investments that are made
- Actually value your clients and be grateful for them, as it is difficult enough to maintain any form of success in today’s current environment
- Conduct the proper research that will inform you on our market and what client’s expectations of your business so that you can retain them for longer and avoid making any silly mistakes
- Think about offering incentives to your client base in an attempt to keep them on board with your business venture if you see signs of them wanting to go elsewhere
- Keep up your appearance when the going gets tough so your client trust levels do not diminish and you are able to save face whenever you need to as a company
- Think about what financial aid can do for you and assess what products and services are out there that could help you; Invoice Factoring for example
Seasoned professional with a strong passion for the world of business finance. With over twenty years of dedicated experience in the field, my journey into the world of business finance began with a relentless curiosity for understanding the intricate workings of financial systems.