Providing More Offers to Existing Clients

 

It’s Cheaper to Keep Her: Don’t Sleep on Sales From Existing Clients
As a business owner, you understand the importance of acquiring new customers. However, I work continuously with the founders in our community for Black women entrepreneurs to help them understand that it’s equally essential to keep existing customers satisfied and coming back for more. Customer retention is crucial for any business as it directly affects the lifetime value of a customer. The more a customer spends with you, the higher their lifetime value becomes.

According to a study by Bain & Company, it is 6 to 7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. This highlights the importance of investing in customer retention strategies such as creating maintenance and retainer offers to increase customer lifetime value and ensure customer loyalty. Yet I see way too many Black women business owners hyper-focused on new leads with no attention given to retaining satisfied clients for additional services.

Build a Maintenance Plan
Maintenance offers refer to the ongoing services that your business provides to its customers. These offers include regular updates, access to new features, and ongoing support. For example, if you run a software company, you could offer regular updates and technical support to your customers. This will keep your customers satisfied and ensure that they continue using your software, increasing their lifetime value. Maintenance offers can also address scope creep from happening when clients whose projects have been off boarded return requesting unpaid, out-of-scope support.

Example: A web developer builds a website and then offers a package that provides regular monthly updates and technical support to its customers. This will keep the customers satisfied and ensure that they continue using the software, increasing their lifetime value.

Create a Retainer Offer
Retainer offers involve paying a fixed fee to reserve your services or products for a specific period. These offers are commonly used in service-based businesses such as legal or accounting firms. For example, you could offer a retainer package that provides a set number of hours of service per month at a discounted rate. This ensures that your customers have access to your services when they need them and that you have a steady stream of revenue.

Example: A marketing agency that designs and launches a sales funnel for a company, then offers a retainer package that provides a set number of hours of service per month at a discounted rate. This ensures that the clients have access to the agency’s services when they need them and that the agency has a steady stream of revenue.

Design a Membership Experience
Membership offers are another way to increase customer lifetime value and ensure loyalty. These offers provide customers with exclusive access to special products, services, or content. For example, a fitness center could offer a premium membership that includes access to personal training sessions and exclusive classes. This incentivizes customers to stay with your business and provides them with additional value, increasing their lifetime value.

Example: A business coach who offers a membership that provides access to a community of other clients and a library of business templates. This not only provides clients with valuable tools but also builds a community around the coach’s business, increasing customer loyalty.

Go from One-on-One to Group Access
Group coaching offers are a great way to provide value to your customers while also increasing their lifetime value. These offers provide customers with access to group coaching sessions, where they can learn from experts and peers. This a great way to extend the relationship after deeper one-on-one work is completed. This not only provides customers with valuable access to you, but also builds a community around your business, increasing customer loyalty.

Example: A financial planner creates a budget and sets a client up to manage the budget and then offers a premium membership that includes access to group coaching and motivation sessions. This incentivizes the members to stick with their budget and get motivational support and financial consultation.

Offer Accessory Products
Accessory or razor-blade offers can be used to increase customer lifetime value by encouraging customers to purchase additional products or services related to the original purchase. For example, if you sell clothing, you could offer customers a discount on accessories when they purchase a new outfit. This not only increases the customer’s spend but also provides them with a more complete experience, making them more likely to return.

Taking time to carefully craft additional offers for existing clients is a great way to increase customer lifetime value and ensure customer loyalty. Embed these types of offers at the end of a project in the client off-boarding phase, and you can build a loyal customer base, keep customers returning and spending with you, and increase your business’s growth and profitability.