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We’ve been in the business of helping companies grow for a long time now. And anecdotally, I’d say 7 out of 10 businesses don’t pursue growth. They’re pretty ok with what they have, and maybe add a minimal number of new accounts a year.
Often what happens when these types of businesses want growth, is they need it immediately due to some outside shock.
This happens with good businesses that have usually had a combination of an established client list and ongoing word of mouth. This formed their main sales and marketing for years. Investment in anything else was simply not needed.
Then one day something outside of their control happens. A key customer goes under or moves their business to a competitor, or a few mid-sized customers. This creates a gap in sales that is impossible to fill at short notice.
Why?
Because investing in sales and marketing has not been a priority for many years. Creating this from scratch, and then going to market to close new accounts takes time. Especially for large contracts where the sales cycle can be 6 months or more.
Imagine suddenly that your website is out of date, you have no sales presentation, you don’t really have a current idea of your target market, there are no digital or printed materials, no formalised benefits, and no sales staff.
This is a situation we see businesses fall into quite often due to external factors. Step one is recognising you might have under-invested in sales and marketing. Step two is understanding how to manage this risk.
Four ways to grow revenue and profit:
Growing your business is a fickle thing.
You want it, it’s hard to achieve, and even harder to maintain. Sustainable growth is the dream of many: a reasonable % increase year on year.
When we talk about growing your business we mean to increase either revenue or profit.
There are four general ways to achieve this:
- Sell More to Existing Customers
- Open New Accounts
- Increase Margins
- Mergers & Acquisitions
I can’t tell you much about how to increase margins or what mergers could be a good idea in a short article. What I can do is discuss the first two ways of growing your business.
These tips can be implemented in most B2B businesses.
No matter your industry, no matter your target market, and no matter if you sell products or services.
Sell More to Existing Customers
Did you know it’s 7 times cheaper to sell to an existing customer than it is to a new prospect?
This should be common knowledge by now. Yet time and again business owners forget this simple truth. I’ve even been guilty of this, so I speak from experience.
Why do business owners forget this simple truth?
They already know everything we do and will reach out when they need us
Sometimes we think our customers already know what we do and there’s no need to reach out. They know what we do so why bother educating them or seeing what they’re doing?
Let me challenge you, how many times have you heard that a customer went to someone else to buy something you offer? I bet it’s happened more than a handful of times, am I right?
If you question them why they didn’t come to you, they’ll often say “Well, I didn’t even know you did that!”. Usually followed up by “Of course next time I’ll come to you.”. If we rule out that they’re unhappy with your services, then the logical conclusion is they are telling the truth.
They genuinely didn’t know you could offer them what they needed. Or they don’t trust you can do it well.
I can’t tell you how many times this has happened with our customers. I’m sure it’s the same for you.
Research shows that since 2019 over 60% of purchasing managers (as many as 70% in 2021) prefer to learn about solutions by exploring the internet and be well prepared before seeing a sales professional.
Our take on this is that we all are pretty guilty of not sharing more knowledge. All of us can do more to educate and develop trust in our solutions and products. You can think of this as positioning your company.
They’ve already bought everything under the sun from us!
Other times we think they’ve already bought everything they could from us, there’s no way they need anything further! This happens a lot with companies that sell large pieces of equipment that don’t need to be replaced for a while. Say the replacement period is once every 30 years.
Why bother reaching out at all for those 30 years?
Again, I challenge you – most of these companies offer service contracts. Yet not all of their clients take them up on it straight away. It could be a financial thing, or just not important in the moment. Somewhere down the line though, servicing becomes crucial to ensure the longevity of this equipment, so why not keep reaching out?
Additionally, few companies operate a single piece of machinery.
There are bound to be further sales opportunities by reaching out.
We’re not sure if they’re happy, so best not to rock the boat
Finally, sometimes we’re not sure the client is happy.
Especially in the case of monthly services, when there isn’t much feedback happening, it’s easy to start thinking what ifs. A very common one becomes, what if they’re not happy with us for XYZ reason?
So, months go by, and this what-if starts giving you real anxiety every time you think of checking in on them.
9 times out of 10, the client is perfectly happy. They’re chugging along using your products or services. Hey, they might even be thinking about reaching out from time to time. For any regular deals like this, there are always things you can upsell or cross-sell. It could be an extra feature on software, it could be additional products that need to be delivered monthly.
For that 1 time, isn’t it good to solve your customers’ problem? Who cares that they’re unhappy?
They’re not unhappy with you personally, they’re just unhappy with what they’re getting from your business. The great thing is it’s almost always an easy fix.
Maybe they didn’t understand something.
Maybe they feel embarrassed to ask for help.
Whatever the case, reaching out is never a bad thing.
So how can you actually sell more to existing clients?
The solution is simple really, reach out.
Aim to speak with every client once every 3 months.
This doesn’t need to be a hardcore sales call. It’s checking in, chatting about their business, connecting with them, understanding their goals, and seeing if you can offer them anything new.
When it comes to something new in your company, it’s a good idea to call as well. Wouldn’t they want to know you now offer XYZ?
It could be a lifesaver for them!
What about time-poor individuals?
Automated email follow-ups are your friend in this case. A simple email that is sent every month or two that checks in on them, and maybe shares an article you’ve written.
The technology is commonplace, the content can be written to be very conversational.
There really is no reason to not do this. If you feel uncomfortable, you can always set these emails up as a template. However, I guarantee you won’t stick to every 1-2 months for each client.
What else can be done?
The other thing you can do when it comes to growing your business is to educate your customers about what you offer and build top-of-the-mind awareness. We have a trick that does both in one: automated newsletters.
A simple fortnightly email that goes over some benefits, highlights a service or group of products and introduces a team member. That’s as simple as this can be, super gentle, not smarmy, and effective.
The beauty of an email is that it doesn’t need to be opened for it to register in the minds of your customers. Just seeing your company name is the little nudge that will help jog their memory and start to build top-of-the-mind awareness over time.
So, when they think of your industry, they think of you.
If you’re ready to have a chat, book a 30-minute consultation, and let’s explore how this duo can be remarkable for growing your business.
Assia Salikhova
Smarketing Lab Co-Creator,
developer of profitable B2B solutions in growing your business.
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