Pretty much all sales and marketing activity boils down to one ultimate goal: revenue. We always want more of it. But it’s one thing to want it, and another to achieve it, right? Especially when the economy isn’t looking so hot. So, you’re looking to optimize your revenue and maybe even grow your profits. How […]
Pretty much all sales and marketing activity boils down to one ultimate goal: revenue. We always want more of it. But it’s one thing to want it, and another to achieve it, right? Especially when the economy isn’t looking so hot.
So, you’re looking to optimize your revenue and maybe even grow your profits. How should you do it? Lots of people might think it’s all about grinding extra hard and chasing new customers day and night. Would it surprise you to find out that new customers aren’t the holy grail when it comes to revenue growth? One of the best ways to optimize your revenue potential is already right in front of you.
Your current customers offer untapped potential.
You probably know by now that it’s expensive to acquire a new customer. But do you know just how much more it costs? It’s actually 6-7 times more expensive to gain a new customer than it is to keep an existing one.
If you’re crunching numbers and trying to figure out how to get more revenue while cutting back on spend, then your current customers are your most valuable opportunity. And it’s not just that it’s cheaper that way. Your current customers are actually a major source of potential revenue.
You have a 60-70% chance of making a sale to a current customer – compared to just a 5-20% chance of closing a sale with someone new. Which makes sense: your current customers already know and love you (assuming you continue to blow them away), but a brand-new contact barely knows you. It’s easier to buy a little more of a product or service when you know what to expect than it is to buy something you’ve never tried before and hope it’s as good as promised.
So what’s the best way to capitalize on that untapped potential of your existing customer base? We’ve got a few ideas.
How to keep your customers happy
Well, first things first. If you’re going to ask for more from your customers, you’re going to need to keep them. And if you’re going to keep them, then you need to make sure they’re in love with your product or company.
So once you’ve won a customer, how can you make sure you keep them? Here are a few ways:
- Make sure your onboarding process makes a good impression.
Onboarding is your customer’s first real experience with your product or service. Be sure to give your customers a (responsive!) point of contact, clear timelines and workflows, and plenty of knowledge.
- Invite feedback (and make it easy to do).
It’s hard to keep your customers happy if you don’t know how they feel. Make it easy for customers to leave feedback by inviting them to review your product or participate in surveys. And then, the important part – actually share that feedback. If your customers have a problem with the product, report it to your engineers so they can fix the issue.
- Keep a communication schedule.
Not every customer is going to be proactive with their feedback, good or bad. It’s your team’s responsibility to keep in touch with regularly scheduled check-ins to make sure they’re still satisfied. Plus, having meetings on the calendar at strategic times gives you an easy opportunity for a cross-sell or upsell.
Yeah, we know. This is easy to say, hard to do. And it takes time. But if you’re consistent in your communication, keep your promises, and follow through on what you say you’ll do, then your customers will see your company as reliable.
Find the right time to upsell and cross-sell.
We already know that upselling and cross-selling have some serious earning potential. Using just these two tactics can increase your revenue by 30%. With stats like that, it’s easy to get excited and want to go full ham on your upsell and cross-sell strategies.
But before you get too excited, let’s pump the brakes a bit. Timing is everything when it comes to having a successful upsell or cross-sell. It’s real easy for it to come across as a complete cash-grab, even though in reality your extra offerings could provide them with extra functionality that raises their own business to the next level.
So…when exactly is the right time?
The bad news is, there’s not a hard and fast rule like “2 months after the first purchase.” The good news is, there are ways to figure out hidden demand (and no, they’re not creepy).
Intent offers insights into customer demand.
A lot of your standard advice for finding upsell and cross-sell opportunities is pretty passive. “Practice active listening!”
Not only that, that kind of advice relies on your customers working at a company that isn’t siloed. Have you ever heard of a company with over, like, 10 employees that doesn’t have siloes? Yeah, neither have we.
Luckily, with Intent you can find out if your current customers are looking for more of what you offer. That way, you can focus your efforts on the people who are sending out signals that they need a little something extra without having to guess who they are.
It works like this:
- Keep an eye on your customer companies’ Intent signals.
- Do they show high or rising intent scores for something you offer that they’re not currently buying? That means you have an opportunity to show them how you offer additional value.
Yep, it’s that simple.
And there’s a lot of ways you can use it. Like that silo issue: say your customer is based in California at company HQ, but there’s a bunch of company locations around the country. Maybe your California customer is pretty satisfied, but you see that the Texas location shows surging Intent for the same kind of product. That could mean there’s another team at the customer company that would benefit your solution. A solution their company already has – and wouldn’t have to go through a long procurement process for. It’s a perfect opportunity for you to offer an expanded contract with more user seats.
Bonus – upsells and cross-sells can prevent churn.
Chasing down upsells and cross-sells isn’t just so you can get more profit from customers you already have. It’s also useful for another all-important function – preventing churn.
Think about it. If customers choose not to repurchase from you, it’s often because they’re not getting something they need. And while you can’t convince ‘em all to stay, there’s a chance a lot of them didn’t realize that you could offer them more. Figure out why they’re leaving, and offer them a different plan or related products that might address their pain points.
Key Takeaways
- Your current customers offer untapped potential for revenue growth and optimization.
- Intent data can help you identify prime opportunities to offer an upsell or cross-sell.
- Use upsells and cross-sells to offer value to your customers and prevent churn.
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