Marketing Secrets #101- Your Most Important Sale
Which sale is the most important one you will ever get from a
client? I'll bet you're thinking it's your first sale with a new client.
Well, it's not. It's surprising to find out that a second-time
buyer is at least twice as likely to buy from you again, when
compared to a first-time buyer. The second-time client will
usually buy again because you have proved that you add value
to his/her life. The customer who has had his/her wants and
needs fulfilled comes back for more. It's very important to know where your profits will be made.
They are either made on the 'front end,' at the time of the first
sale, or they are made on additional, 'back-end' sales. Are your products/services the type that will result in repeat
business? If so, your initial sale could be small, but be designed
to lead to many larger and more profitable sales. Most businesses profit more from additional sales than they do
from first sales. For that reason, it's important to know whether
you want a customer for the long term or if you're making a
'one-shot' sale. Is your marketing designed to generate
additional sales, or is your focus more 'single sale' oriented? QUOTE: 'Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to
do it, and virtue is doing it.' - David Starr Jordan Although 'back-end' sales are vital to the survival of most
businesses, one of the biggest mistakes that many businesses
make is NOT capturing valuable client information so that they
know which customers are returning to buy again. If you don't keep client information showing which customers
are coming back to you, then you can't use this information to
stay in contact with them and sell them more products/services. I have gone into a local hobby store several times during the
last three weeks. Do you think they have ever asked me for any
of my contact information? Do you think they are keeping
track of the models or supplies that I have been purchasing? Over the course of these three weeks I have easily spent at least
$200.00 on various products/services for my son. You would
think that they would want to make sure I had a good reason to
come back. Now, if they had asked for my info and tracked the types of
things I had purchased, they could then mail (or email) me
marketing offers relating to what I had been buying. If they had my contact information, then they could let me
know about upcoming sales or special offers. And if they
haven't got my information, then they probably don't have
information on other customers either. The point I'm making here is that by not capturing this
information, they may be leaving a lot of money out of their
cash register. QUOTE: 'Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.' -
Albert Camus Many businesses are not overly concerned with making a profit
on the first sale to a new client because they have calculated
that their profits will come from future sales. In other words, they know that they will profit from repeat
sales to existing clients. If you know that one out of every three
customers who makes a purchase from your business will
purchase repeatedly, you can take a reasonable loss on your
first sale. The key is getting them in the door the first time. If you can do
that, then you know that you will profit in the future. So some
of your marketing efforts should be designed to 'hook' the first
time buyer. But it is equally important that some of your marketing efforts
are designed to bring repeat customers back to you. Does your marketing strategy include efforts to both bring in
new customers and keep the 'back-end' sales coming in? ** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **
Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in
your ezine or on your site so long as you leave
all links in place, do not modify the content and
include our resource box as listed above. If you do use the material please send us a note
so we can take a look. Thanks. © Silent Partner Publishing
10 W. Square Lake Road, Suite 214
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302
(248) 335-8080
-=-=-=-=-=-=- ============================== Sanford Jay Barris is the president of
Business Marketing Services and the author of
'97 Marketing Secrets to Make More
Money: Your Secret Guide to Growing
Your Business Right' e-mail: mailto: info@97MarketingSecrets.com http://www.97MarketingSecrets.com ==============================
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