A client of mine, right here in Georgia, runs a part-time Internet business on the side. To date, he has exclusively used the Internet to generate over $400,000.00 in revenue over the last few years… Did I mention this was a ‘part-time’ Internet business?
Anyhow, this guy is a school teacher and during the summer, he’s out of school for a few months. He called to consult with us to write an e-mail campaign he could send out to all of his customers promoting a special offer on some of his products.
Keep this in mind. His website averages about $7K - $9K per month and the day we ran the campaign, he managed to generate over $15,000.00 worth of business over 2-4 days. This campaign didn’t cost him a dime, yet he was able to bring in all this money — free and clear!
How did it happen?
Well… he contacted his prior list of satisfied customers. Oftentimes, businesses fail to tap the most valuable resource they have… their customers!
They’re usually too busy trying to track down new customers they often forget about the ones they already have.
Think about this for a moment…
- You already have people who’ve purchased products/services from you…
- These people already know you’re legit because they have what they’ve purchased
- These people know you, like you and trust you
- You already know what these people want, need and desire
So why don’t you make them an offer? Why don’t you upsell them on a similar or related product? Our client merely sent out an email blast offering his customers the opportunity to purchase more of what they’ve already purchased, but at a higher discount.
Now… check this out. He generated over $15,000.00 and this came from an e-mail blast that costs him nothing. But here’s where it gets even more shocking…
Over 80% of his customers NEVER received the e-mail! With all these spam filters in place, e-mail deliverability is now becoming a big issue and a huge pain. Even with those factors working against us, he managed to pull in $15 big ones…
My suggestion to him was to send out a postcard mailing to each of his customers, which would ensure 100% deliverability but he was so happy with the $15K he opted not to do it. Plus… anymore than that and he would not have been able to manage getting his orders out in a timely basis — remember, he does this part-time!
That was then…. but now we’re designing a postcard marketing campaign to send out to his customers next week.
Are you staying in touch with your existing customers?
What about you… are you staying in touch with your customers? If not, you’re missing out on a big piece of revenue.
You should be contacting your customers at a very minimum of two times a year. I personally suggest a minimum of every 3 months. Remember, these people know you, like you and trust you and you should keep them informed of the latest updates or trends taking place in your industry… as it relates to THEM.
Now if you’re sending them a bunch of junk and worthless e-mails or newsletters, then you’re wasting your time and theirs.
If you’re needing helping setting up a system to keep in touch with your client base, do not hesitate to contact us.
