By David Holland

February 1, 2023

Lead Generation, Marketing

0 comments

The last two words in pretty much every story ever written are the same:

The end.

Only it’s often not the end – there’s a sequel, a return to prominence or further resolution to be had.

And probably more money to be made from the character and novel itself, let’s be honest. 

But there’s an important lesson there and it’s that the end is only the beginning. 

That might read like a motivational quote you might read on LinkedIn but it’s a crucial lesson in business – just because your relationship or transaction is over doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the road.

The big secret is that the easiest way to get new business is to get your existing customers to buy again or purchase new stuff. 

Why I hear you ask? 

Because they’re already a customer. They already trust you, they’ve already bought into you before and as long as what you’ve done for them was good, you’re halfway there to another sale already.

Build The Community

There aren’t many business models that don’t think about upselling, cross-selling or repeat business opportunities. 

Think about it – there’s a time limit on some purchases. Sometimes they’re short, and sometimes they’re extended.

3D illustration of pawns linked together over black background. New links are represented by doted lines. Concept of new strategic alliances.

You’re not planning on a wedding every five years (I’ll leave the jokes to you here), you don’t necessarily want to shell out on a new car every few months and you’re not likely to be interested in a new kitchen if you’ve just built a new one last year.

But even in these markets, there are other opportunities to explore…

Weddings aren’t an everyday occurrence but anniversaries, celebrations and even the possibility of children can present natural sales opportunities if you’re in that space. But that takes a bit of planning.

By building a community of people who’ve already purchased from you, there can be more opportunities to develop a follow-up process to generate more sales for complimentary products and services.

In most sectors, however, there’s a more regular buying pattern. It’s more repeatable, and as long as it’s managed well, then it’s easy to maintain.

It’s a common joke that gym memberships spike in January and the direct debit has usually been binned off by Easter… but there’s a kernel of truth in that.  

Gyms, fitness coaches, and personal trainers are all completely aware that their business is cyclical. It makes sense to make hay while the sun shines, whether that’s people looking to get fit in January and start the year right or get that ‘summer body’ ready for going on holiday. 

But with any coaching, tutoring or support-based business, there’s a realisation that not everyone ‘sticks’. That’s why it often makes sense to take a subscription approach, whether that takes the form of a monthly payment or a limited contractual period.

If a customer decides that’s it for them, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. Sure, it’s not ideal but there are still other ways you can build on that relationship…

Hard Work Beats Talent If Talent Doesn’t Work Hard

Here’s the thing – if selling was easy, we’d all be doing it. And we’d all be sat on a tropical beach sipping a mimosa by the time we’re 40. 

Now, I’m going to say something a little bit controversial here… but it’s not as hard as you might think.

OverLoad Working Career Contemporary Work Concept

It takes A LOT of hard work, focused effort, and strategy to get it right. But that’s not to say the process is difficult, it just takes a lot of effort and energy that many aren’t willing to put in and see through to the end. 

If you’re a personal trainer, you might set yourself up with a 3-month contract system with your clients where they pay a set fee per month and then at the end of that period, it’s up to both of you whether they continue or not.

Now, you know from your experience that they’ll be able to achieve visible and positive results within those three months and once that time has passed, many personal trainers might consider it a job well done and move on.

Some people might want to carry on, some might go off on their own, and some might give up completely.

This is a MASSIVE missed opportunity! 

Because if you know the usual behaviour of your customers, you can plan a strategy that’s specifically aimed at keeping them interested. So you can respond in a much smarter manner when the three-month agreement ends:

“I’ve really enjoyed our time working together, would you like to receive a free weekly motivational programme via email?” 

How Do I Do It?

It HAS to be personal.

It’s no use having a boilerplate response that gets sent out to everyone because your chance of that email or message being seen AND action being taken on it is minimal.

It’s far too easy to avoid a message if it doesn’t look like it’s directed specifically at you.

Mail Communication Connection message to mailing contacts phone Global Letters Concept

The first email in this example should be a review of their progress over three months if you’re a personal trainer or a follow-up on how they’re getting on with the product or service you delivered. 

After that, the emails will be a series of pre-written and targeted messages that will help them stay focused on their goals.

This is where experience and knowledge of your sector is INVALUABLE, an attractive offer will land in their inbox. Accompanying that will be a reminder of those positive results – simple, effective, and targeted. 

Automating sequences is actually a lot easier than you might think. If you’ve had any experience with it, you’ll know what I mean. Once you’ve broken the back of the work the first time round, it’s a simple process of finetuning to get the messaging spot on.

The Starbucks Approach

Take a look in your wallet or purse – how many store cards have you got? Perhaps I should update the way I think there… take a look on your phone, how many rewards apps have you got?

Nectar cards, Asda rewards, Costa rewards, Starbucks cards, Pets At Home, and so on and so forth. Your rewards cards and apps say a lot about you – and they tell the companies a lot about you too. 

customer rewards and fidelization incentives conceptual still-life, shopping bag with price tag with Rewards written on it

These days it’s all about tailored rewards for you to entice you back into giving them more business. It’s a great trade-off for businesses. Asda gets all the data on you as a customer to know how you shop, how frequently you pop in, what your favourite items are, and they use it all to get you to come more often.

It’s a highly sophisticated system that allows businesses to capture, measure, segment, and manipulate the communications, offers, and literature that arrive at your door, in your inbox, and on your phone.

If you go to order an item, then the system will calculate that you might also need complementary products. Anyone that’s purchased anything on Amazon (that’s pretty much everyone, right?) will know all about this.

So, if you’ve just added a phone to your basket, you might also be interested in phone cases, earphones, and a longer charging cable. 

And it’s all much easier than you think to implement. 

One of the easiest wins for a lot of businesses is to find ways to stay in their customers’ thoughts. Once they leave the store, complete the transaction, or subscribe, it’s up to you to make sure they remember you. 

The solution for many businesses is to invest in free promotional material – which can be successful if it’s properly thought out, well-timed, and the material is practical and useful.

It’s a great way to say ‘thank you’ or ‘welcome’ to a client – think, if you’re coming to the end of an agreement, then a pen and a diary arrive at their door, complete with a note saying thank you for your time together, that’s immediately putting the relationship in a positive frame of mind. 

Getting It Done

You probably won’t need a system that’s anywhere near as complex as the one that supermarkets and retail outlets use… BUT if you want to maximise the longevity of those relationships, you MUST HAVE A PROCESS! 

The good news is that A LOT of these things can be automated in Keap… and we’re specialists in Keap, Infusionsoft, and all things related! 

We can help you implement automation through Keap, train you on maintaining your system, and assist you wherever you need it. Our proven approach to implementation reduces the time it takes for you to start enjoying the benefits.

Our training helps you understand how to get benefits from the technology, not just which buttons you should be clicking. 

And our assistance means we’re always there with fast answers, done-with-you, and done-for-you assistance to drive your business forward so that you can jump straight to the next level. 

About the author

Nice bloke with practical ideas. Former Procter & Gamble, Kraft and IBM sales and marketing executive. Became a business owner 20 years ago. Started multiple businesses including EXELA which is the most successful Keap® & Infusionsoft™ reseller in the EMEA region.

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