Increase Business With Existing Customers

Most small companies have limited resources of personnel and time. Salespeople go where their pockets take them, owners are spread out doing a gamut of things and customer service is trained to take and turn over calls quickly. So how do you get more business from companies you are currently doing business with? The whole focus should be on sales and not just how salespeople are doing but how to generate more business. The second should be on incentives and sharing the wealth with staff. No one would hesitate to pay a plumber top dollar for his services but these same people won't go for spit to expand their businesses by sharing the wealth with the people who are lining their pockets in the first place. I have seen it so often. Small companies will hire one of their loser relatives and pay them instead of the real achievers on their staff. Let's say you have worked with your staff and have things in place that the incentives will allow them to get more business. Painstakingly as is sounds repeated phone calls must be made to existing companies to screen them for potential new business. Try doing this in the off months when your customers may not be as busy and might welcome the opportunity to talk. Here are some other ways: 1. Don't just send out new items or literature without highlighting the contents of the envelopes, such as, Enclosed Literature Requested or offer a time incentive to purchase. 2. Streamline the enclosed information to be easily read and digested in a matter of minutes. 3. Make sure key companies are assigned to your sales' staff so they can develop more business and have customer service work with sales with training on when to turn the call over to sales. 4. Have sales search the Internet and check out every customers' websites to see the items they carry. Then call the customer stating you have seen such and such on their website and did you know we offer this? Most customers don't have the time to find out what YOU sell. YOU have to tell them. 5. Offer a bundle package if the customer starts to buy other items not previously bought from you. 6. Make sure your mailers have more pictures than words. 7. Do a test mailing with a survey. 8. Add to your mailing that a $50 coupon offer is enclosed if your online survey is completed or some other offer. 9. When talking to customers ask the right questions to maximize your information gathering and not waste their time. What you want is to keep getting information out to your customer so they don't have to research what you do. Then make sure that they know you can offer same or similar services/products that they are getting from your competition. Remember, generally, no one gives all their business to one vendor but what you are trying to do is get the lion's share. Even if you don't now, some reason might be don't have or aren't able to offer what the other guy at this time but this might be indication of where to grow your own business when expanding. Knowledge might be power but information helps you decide where to spend your time and money. Instead of trying to always get new business try getting more from the customers you have. Guess what they will be glad you did! Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Charlotte_Sorrentino