All businesses rely on a steady flow of clients/customers in order to be profitable. Maintaining and developing this flow of clients is something every business works towards, but what happens when this flow begins to stagnate?
Re-engaging with past clients is a highly effective way of picking up the slack, potentially boosting your influx of work considerably. Due to the fact that you’re targeting people who have required your services before, they may well require them again. This blog will focus on the most effective ways to re-engage, as well as informing on how to use past clients to draw in new ones.
A Simple Telephone Call
A quick phone call to previous clients can go a long way. By picking up the phone and simply asking how they are getting on and whether there is anything you can help them with, you’re reminding them that you’re on hand to help. Even if the company you contact is not currently requiring any assistance, it’s a great way to strengthen customer relations, as well as keeping your company fresh in their memory.
Referral Schemes
Whilst it is quite possible for past clients to have no future need of your services; if you have previously provided them with an excellent level of service, they will likely refer you to friends, family and acquaintances. The best way of encouraging this is by setting up some kind of referral scheme whereby your past client benefits in some way.
Listen to Clients
Knowing what your clients want will get you halfway to providing a service which they would actually want to use. A common mistake many businesses make is assuming to know exactly what products/services their clients want. This only ever leads to a disconnect between company and client. By validating new business ideas with both past and existing clients, you can build a service offering around what it should be built around – the client. Creating a service offering which is more in line with what your clients want is a great way to re-attracting past clients.
Market Research
Similar to listening to your clients, conducting market research will provide you with additional information on who you’re selling to. In order to target your market, you need to know your market. Market research can often be a cost-free, or at least inexpensive means to ascertaining exactly what your target audience wants.
