Then you can keep in touch with them on a regular basis. You risk losing a customer to the competition if you do not keep in contact with them at least every 90 days. Even if they like your service, their loyalty will weaken the longer there is no contact. The best method is personal calls or drop in to the office, or at the very least sending a regular newsletter to their personal email.

 The lifetime value of a customer is the total income a customer brings to your business over the lifetime of your relationship with that customer.
Let us say the business is a burger bar. A customer comes in to buy $10 burger. If the relationship is bad it may be the only purchase he/she makes at the shop.
However if the customer experience is a good one then the chances are the customer will return. Now say the customer buys one burger per week for 10 years; you have a lifetime value of $5200.00. If you have a great service and convince him to purchase a $3 drink with each sale, the lifetime value becomes $6760.00. Then, you get him to purchase $3 chips and the lifetime value becomes $8320.00. You can increase this value by many methods discussed further, however, think of how much money you could lose if the first experience was poor.

If you contact your clients regularly, you will be in their mind when they want to buy. They will think of you first. If you have talked about the services you offer and those same ideas are marketed by a competitor, they will think you are on top of your game and the opposition advertising will actually work for you. Keep talking and following up with people until they are ready to buy. They will buy when they are ready. You just want them to buy from you.

 To obtain a new customer you use significant resources such as advertising, signwriting vehicles and offices, referral fees etc. It makes sense to sell to them by supplying products they need and to have as many products as possible to sell to existing customers. If you sell a Barbecue to a customer and that customer walks out the door, you may not see them until they need a new barbecue.
However, if you sell them a gas bottle, barbecue utensils, meat rubs and sauces, cleaning products, cooking dishes etc. you will have a much bigger sale . If you do not sell them, chances are the customer will acquire them from another store later. If you sell quality products at reasonable prices, chances are the customer will buy from you. If they do not buy that day, chances are if you keep contacting them with specials etc. they will return to purchase from your business. They will think of your business every time they have a barbecue and somebody queries them about their products.

To obtain a new customer you use significant resources such as advertising, signwriting vehicles and offices, referral fees etc. It makes sense to sell to them by supplying products they need and to have as many products as possible to sell to existing customers. If you sell a Barbecue for $500.00 to a customer and that customer walks out the door, you may not see them until they need a new barbecue.

However if you sell them a gas bottle, barbecue utensils, meat rubs and sauces, cleaning products, cooking dishes etc. you will have a much bigger sale . If you do not sell them, chances are the customer will acquire them from another store later. If you sell quality products at reasonable prices, chances are the customer will buy from you. If they do not buy that day, chances are if you keep contacting them with specials etc., they will return to purchase from your business. They will think of your business every time they have a barbecue and somebody queries them about their products.

Just having the products available will not increase sales by much. The customer needs to be persuaded of the benefits your service will offer them. You need to create a sales incentive program that is simple and works. Attract and build a top sales and service team. The staff in any company can be the biggest asset but also the biggest liability and road-block to success. Many owners blame staff for not being effective workers but frankly most get the staff they deserve. Owners need to be qualified to employ good staff.

People want information. Write articles on the internet that supply significant information which will offer links to your website. If you are an electrician, for instance, write small articles on use of test and tag, or uses for different light bulbs. People will see you as a knowledgeable source of advice and will deal with you.

If you do not like selling your business over the telephone then give away free information. Give away a free report or information. A business that gives away enough helpful advice shows you can add value to the service they may be receiving from someone else. This should not contain sales information but rather aimed at getting their attention.

Running small seminars packed with value will set you up as the expert and people are more likely to buy your services. You can have your services available for people to purchase. Some may purchase low cost products (such as a booklet of Marketing Strategies) while others may sign up for service agreements.

Develop your clients’ understanding of the advantage they get by using your services. Market this!

This could be what you do better than your opposition or it could be a guarantee such as, “if out tradesmen are more than 10 minutes late, the service fee is free”.  It could also be explaining the extra quality or service that is built into your product/service.

Develop networks of non-competing clients and suppliers who deal with the same people you do.
Offer them an incentive to recommend clients to your business. If the person becomes a client, they get a commission or a fee paid when the new account is paid. It is easy money for them and they are actually helping their customers by introducing them to a product or service they may need.

Substantial bonuses for attending your meetings or signing service agreements.
Take a seminar for instance, where you could have 50% “no show “. If you charge $1000.00 for the seminar and have a prize for turning up (such as flights and a weekend in Sydney), then the client will see immediate value in the trip and they will also see that they are getting a lot of useful advice for a much smaller amount of money.

Hold the seminar in a holiday destination and throw in the holiday and the whole product becomes a tax deduction.

Buy cake for $5.00 between 7 am and 11 am and we will throw in a free coffee worth $1.50. Upgrade to cappuccino for extra $1.00. Create a bronze, silver and gold package. Bronze may include newsletter and free answers to email questions, the silver may also entitle you to bronze plus two free seminars through the year and the gold package may provide up to five hours of free advice as well as silver benefits.

Get referrals and place in your reception and use them if you can in your newsletters.
These are probably the most powerful marketing tool you can have. It is promoting you and your business

We all know that some clients provide better rewards than others. Divide your customers into those who are good loyal customers and make them feel special. After all, they are special and important to you and you should let them know you recognise that. There should be a clear and obvious difference between regular customers and other customers. Enroll them into a special club, send them additional bonuses in each newsletter or even create a rewards program. You can then publish this to all your customers and people who are not in the club may want to get in the club if they see the benefits of being “special”.

The more your business is seen by prospective clients the easier it will be to convert them to being your clients. Wear uniforms that are eye catching and tasteful. Beer coasters, pens, coffee mugs etc.can all be gifts but also valuable promotion tools. Use carry bags to give to clients or envelopes that have your logo on them.

Some businesses will see a clear connection between advertising and business sales while others may not benefit as much. This is why so many television commercials for takeaway food happen around meal times.
Cold weather, wet weather, hot weather etc. all present sales opportunities for some businesses for advertising. The use of SMS as an advertising tool is also very useful for some businesses. For instance, if it is a quiet day, an SMS to all customers that you have a lunchtime special can result in significant sales.