News

Business is driven by sales and profit, its well known that sales is the only activity in business that creates revenue, everything else creates cost – so sales and winning new clients should be at the heart of every small and growing business, shouldn't it?

So we were surprised to hear that a recent survey conducted by the CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing), shows that acquiring a new customer costs 10 times more than retaining and existing client, and that existing clients usually spend up to 67% more than new business too!

So should you be investing your time in winning new clients or investing more in the retention and nurturing of existing contracts? Our blog looks at ways you can do both;

Winning New Business;

1. Freshen your brand – your identity is what people first see of your business and makes an impression, make sure yours is the right one. Look at both traditional (signage) and digital visual designs; do they reflect your business in the best way?
2. Drive your marketing – how do your audiences communicate, what is their need that you can help with? Make sure you choose the right channel for your market, for example if local you will likely invest in leaflets and your local networking presence, yet larger profiles will be attracted to more inbound marketing methods like email campaigns or social engagement.
3. New Sales Channels – maybe it's time to reinvest in your website to make it more user-friendly and attract a different market or look to start selling your services online (if you haven't already!). Small changes to your website such as enhancing your 'Meet the Team' page can make a big difference on visitor attraction.

Increasing Spend From Existing Clients;

1. Give incentives and discounts for multiple services and 'upsells' to your existing clients – referral schemes particularly are a super way to ensure existing clients are selling for you, speaking to their friends and contacts
2. Communication – keeping in regular contact with your existing clients will not only help to build a more solid relationship, but also remind on other services you could potentially assist them with as their business changes too.
3. Get in the news – showcase your existing clients whether it's a testimonial or full case study showcasing the impact/ solution you have created – it's also a great way of promoting 'peer recommendations' and other people talking about you positively

To judge how successful your sales strategy has been you'll need goals. For example, you might aim to attract enough new customers to increase profit by 5% over 12 months. Keep your targets realistic.

This blog was wrote by Nottingham Office Space provider Foxhall Business Centres, with city centre exclusive luxury offices in and around Nottinghamshire, offering professional rental space, meeting rooms and virtual offices for businesses of all sizes, read more at www.foxhallbc.co.uk