5 ways to ensure you are making the most out of YOUR PAST AND EXISTING CUSTOMERS.

1. Don't forget to regularly interact with them!

Don't forget that when it comes to marketing the easiest people to talk to are the people who already know you, like you and trust you - your past and existing customers! The businesses that we see doing well, all share one thing in common; they see each customer as a customer for life. It's important to find ways of engaging with your customers so that they keep coming back for more. Here are a few ideas:

• Exclusive customer evenings
• Customer rewards programmes
• Newsletters
• Reminder notices, texts emails
• Genuine follow-up calls
• Thank you letters

2. Maximise the worth of each sale

Do all of your customers know what they can buy from you? Is your sales team fully aware of the best times to upsell? Is everyone in your team conversant with the complimentary products in your range? Can you combine products and services in your range to encourage your customers to buy more for you?

3. Know your itch cycles

Many of you will have businesses where your customers buy from you in a cyclical pattern. Take cars for example, after a certain number of years, most of us begin to feel "itchy" to upgrade our car. The more you know about the itch cycles in your market the more you can time communication to past customers to prompt a repeat purchase.

4. Your customers can help you build trust

Who would you trust more, the word of a sales person or that of someone who has nothing to gain from you buying a product or service? Testimonials and case studies can often work wonders when it comes to building trust with potential clients. Try to build a library of case studies/ client testimonials to use across your marketing. If you need help getting endorsements we can call a selection of your customers and then construct a well-written testimonial for you.

5. Encourage referrals

If your' existing customers are sending new customers your way without being asked to imagine what they'll do with a little encouragement. Chances are your existing customers know people just like them who could be buying from you. What do you do now to actively encourage referrals? Here's a few tips to get extra referrals without being pushy:

Always make a big deal of thanking people for referring you -a phone call goes a long way!

• Positive reinforcement - sometimes a small referral reward is all it takes to get a customer in the pattern of regularly referring.
• Think about promotions which encourage introductions - exclusive "bring a friend" customer evenings are a great example.