Getting prospects to make a purchase is good. Turning them into long term clients is even better. Once prospects have made a trip through the entire sales funnel, it’s much easier to move them through a second time. And, since they’re already familiar with your service and brand, you don’t have to spend as much time and money on nurturing. Unfortunately, a lot of salespeople treat a sale like the end of the relationship. If prospects want to re-enter the sales funnel, they’re expected to do so on their own. This is a waste of a golden opportunity to create long term clients. Using the tips below, you can keep prospects engaged after the initial sale, and encourage them to become long term clients.
Chances are, the prospect initially found you while looking for a particular product. Now that they’ve found you, you don’t want them to forget about you when they need another product. Whether on your own, or through marketing automation, keep in touch with your former prospects. Update them on new products, features, and services that you offer. If you’ve collected personal data from them, such as birthdays or anniversaries, it’s a good idea to drop them a quick email on those dates. When they’re ready to make another purchase, you’ll be fresh on their mind.
If prospects feel like they’re getting a lot for their money, they’re much more likely to become long term clients. In any sales office, there are affordable items that you can add to a sale to make it much more valuable to the client. These add-ons may not seem like much to you, but they can mean a lot to your prospects. Any additional value in the sale will make them feel better about their purchase. Whether those add-ons help them get more use out of the item, make the item last longer, or just reward them for their purchase, they’ll be grateful to you for helping make their dollars go farther. When you’re trying to create long term clients, a little value can go a long way.
Often, salespeople spend a lot of time and effort building a relationship with their prospects, then let those relationships lapse after the sale. Creating long term clients requires a long term investment. You need to be available to your former prospects, listen to their needs and concerns, and address them to the best of your ability. If they can’t come to you with questions, then they have no reason to come to you for future purchases. It’s up to you to make the effort to maintain a relationship with them following a sale. The effort you put into continuing the relationship will be far less than the effort required to build a relationship from scratch with a new prospect. In the long run, your efforts will more than pay for themselves.
Claire has 4+ years of experience in sales and recruitment. As a Director of Client Services, her main objective is to connect great people to great companies by building strong relationships with both top clients and candidates in the sales industry. She specializes in sales roles of all seniority levels for both enterprise and start-up clients North American wide. When Claire isn't networking with top talent, she enjoys being outdoors, traveling and spending time with friends & family.