Are Your Clients Willing to Stick With You for Life?

BY Rachel Cagle
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Did you know that the probability of making a sale to an existing customer is 60% — 70%, while you only have a 5% — 20% chance with a potential client? That’s what the data provided by help-​desk software Help Scout shows. Not only that, Help Scout also found that 70% of customers base their service experiences on how they were treated and that, in turn, makes them more willing to spend more money with companies that treat them well. So, what do you need to offer to score customer loyalty? Maricel Rivera offers some suggestions in, “5 Ways to Keep Customers for Life.”

  1. Knowledge

Knowledge is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal. You can’t just charge blindly into a sales meeting without knowing your client’s needs or, worse, not being well-​versed enough with your products to know what to offer your clients to meet their needs. Do as much research on your existing clients as you do on your prospects. This means routinely checking their websites, social media accounts, calling or emailing your contacts to check in on them and request feedback, the whole nine yards. Know what your clients need and exactly how you can meet that need or all you’ll be doing is wasting everyone’s time and making yourself look bad.

  1. Honor

Maintaining a good business relationship isn’t that different from being good friends with someone. When you think of one of your close friends, you probably think of someone who is trustworthy. Someone who doesn’t flake out on plans and follows through with the promises they make to you. You need to be that kind of person in your business relationships. You have to maintain your honor as a good salesperson and only guarantee your clients things that you can definitely follow through with, and in a fairly timely manner. It’s how you earn every solid relationship.

  1. Humanity

The part of sales where many reps fall short is that they see their clients as nothing more than the next signed contract. When salespeople have a habit of making a sale and then disappearing until it’s time to sell something else, their clients are not going to feel appreciated. Treat your clients like the people they are. Say thank you when you close that first sale, keep in touch with them afterward to make sure what you sold them is working smoothly, send them hand-​written cards on major holidays. When you start treating your clients like fellow humans instead of just an opportunity to make money, they will become loyal clients.


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