Many online businesses make the mistake of putting all their efforts in trying to sell to new customers rather than remembering the value of repeat customers.
When your business gets someone interested in your products or services you can turn that prospect into a customer. This is time to celebrate, right? You have made a sale, so your work is done. Now it’s time to find some new leads so you can hopefully repeat the process. Slow down, speedy.
It costs 6 to 7 times more to get a new customer than keep an existing one and, on average, 20% of your customers will be responsible for 80% of your sales. So how can you encourage your prospects to buy more and become repeat customers?
FREE Checklist: Create An Effective Sales Funnel
How Can Repeat Customers Be Encouraged To Buy Again?
When a customer buys from you, they are fruit that is ripe for the picking. No one will be more interested in what you have to say and offer than at the time when they actually pull out their wallet or purse and buy what you are selling.
Their level of interest in your business and your products is sky high at that point. This is the perfect time to deliver an upsell, downsell or some other type of offer. Look at this as an opportunity to provide additional value and solve more problems for your customer, rather than thinking about making a sale.
A Bird In The Hand and All That
There are all sorts of business statistics that show it’s infinitely harder to get a new customer, as opposed to getting a current customer to purchase additional items or accessories. This is only one of many excellent reasons why your sales funnel needs to include an immediate offer to anyone who buys one of your products or services.
An effective sales funnel can put your business on autopilot. It consistently turns prospects into paying customers if you structure it the right way. A sales funnel is basically a series of steps you design to guide and inform prospects as they become familiar with your products or services, and then decide whether or not to make a purchase.
Up-sell, Down-sell, Cross-sell
A proven process to generate repeat customers is to offer something that costs more than the item just purchased. This is known as an up-sell. If the customer passes on the up-sell, offer a down-sell option that is a lower price or a cross-sell where you offer related products.
This is one of the key reasons why the online retail giant Amazon has so many repeat customers. Amazon’s customer loyalty statistics have shown that 35% of their revenue comes from cross-sell recommendations. What it does for the consumer is to increase perceived value. Most customers just have the intention to buy and leave. However, when they are offered bundles or related products, it makes the shopping experience more convenient. It saves them time looking for these items and even suggesting things they may not have thought of.
With the up-sell, it could be the case that the customer didn’t know that for a little extra they could get much more value. This isn’t an exploitation of customers. This is one of the benefits of good customer service. Those who don’t want it won’t buy it. Those who do buy an up-sell believe they got a good deal and a quality shopping experience.
The Power of Unadvertised Bonuses
You can also create lifelong customer loyalty and multiple sales by rewarding a purchase with an unadvertised bonus. Make this bonus something outstanding. You want to truly reward a buying decision with massive value. Provide something that solves a big problem in the lives of your customers.
Referral Discounts
Another way to turn one time customers into repeat customers is to offer referral discounts and free products. In turn for a customer referring you to a friend, you extend a future purchase discount or extra product to that person if the referral also makes a purchase.
Getting To The Buying DecisionÂ
Don’t discount the power of constant email contact. Capture the email information from every lead and with every purchase. Follow up regularly, and you can turn a one time buy into a lifetime of purchases. It’s been shown that on average, across all markets and niches, it takes approximately 7 communications with a prospect before he or she makes a buying decision. This is very easy to do with an email series that automatically goes out on a previously set schedule, automating your sales funnel experience.
You should also segment your email lists. When someone makes a purchase, they are then sent an ongoing sales funnel to generate more sales. Non-buyers continue to receive a different email series, one that is intended to make that crucial first sale.
Free Checklist For Generating Repeat Customers
The human brain craves order and process. It operates in a structured way, and understands step-by-step systems. When you logically talk to the brain in a way it can understand, you have a good chance of getting your business message across. This is why sales funnels work so well for generating repeat customers, no matter what niche or market you are in.
The sales funnel stages are used to get your business from unprofitable to profitable success. To learn more on how to get repeat customers, my free Sales Funnel Checklist outlines the best practices for making your prospects buy from you again and again.