By: Donald Anders
President, Exton Region Chamber of Commerce

Much of the expense of marketing a business lies in capturing the attention of people you’ve never dealt with, drawing them to your business, and then convincing them to make their first purchase.

It doesn’t make sense to keep doing this complicated process exclusively to new prospects when there is a pool of people who are waiting to buy again – if you’d just ask!

More than half your work is already done because your existing clients don’t have to guess what your product or service is like and, if they have been satisfied, they’ll be open to buying from you again.

To take advantage of this goldmine of potential income your first step is to build a database. This means capturing prospect contact details and storing them for future use. You may run open houses, provide guarantees or just ask up front – but get those names and addresses somehow.

Once you have the names it’s time to decide what strategies will give the best return on your investment. A simple ‘Thank You’ card will put you ahead of most of your competitors and increase the likelihood of them telling their friends – especially if it is a card nice enough to display.

Keeping in touch between purchases means you sit at the top of their mind when they, or their friends, are looking to buy. Simple newsletters, flyers promoting monthly specials, or even birthday cards can be sent out on a regular basis. How often depends on your industry, but generally every 90 days gives you the advantage of keeping them as a customer…otherwise you risk them becoming a prospect again, open to your competitors’ offers.

Perhaps you’ve always had a sale and put an ad in the newspaper hoping that your clients will notice. What about posting a special invitation to a customer only sale – provide some drinks and nibbles with some real bargains – your clients feel rewarded and you make sales.

Whatever your strategy you stand to make a better return on your marketing investment because the message gets to exactly the right people.

Take notice of your existing clients, reap the rewards of targeted marketing, and beat your real competitor – clients who have no loyalty because you don’t ask them to come back.

Need help with your marketing strategy?
Visit www.ercc.net/directory for a list of marketing consultants in your area.

Donald Anders is President of the Exton Region Chamber of Commerce, 610.644.4985