Let’s call them “New Year’s Nudges.” Here are a few sales and marketing “New Year’s Nudges” to help your business grow in 2019. When most entrepreneurs or sales people are thinking about sales goals for 2019, they tend to think in terms of the new, not the old. Every dollar counts the same, whether it’s a dollar you get from a new customer or an existing customer. So as you start your new year, be sure to show some appreciation to your existing customers. The best way to grow your business is to have a solid foundation of loyal, existing customers. The new year is a great time to step back and take a big picture look at how you’re spending money on marketing. Don’t assume that just because it’s January, you need to focus on making sales immediately. Your customers might not be ready to buy yet. Try it this year. It’s about showing up every day and making incremental progress by staying focused and doing the right things.
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I’m just going to come out and say it. I hate New Year’s resolutions. We’ve all been there. You start the new year with a spirit of optimism, trying to do something new to make your life better — starting a diet, signing up for a gym membership, being nice to other people — and it never lasts more than a few days. Going into 2019, if you want to make serious progress in your business in 2019, your business needs something stronger and more sustainable than a New Year’s Resolution. After all, as we’ve all demonstrated in our personal lives — by being unable to stop eating carbs and being unwilling to schlep to the gym in the middle of winter — it’s highly unlikely to make immediate, transformative changes. It’s more reasonable to make progress by building upon the successful characteristics that we already have. Let’s call them “New Year’s Nudges.”
Here are a few sales and marketing “New Year’s Nudges” to help your business grow in 2019.
1. Keep your current customers.
Don’t take your existing customers for granted. When most entrepreneurs or sales people are thinking about sales goals for 2019, they tend to think in terms of the new, not the old. They get excited about new business and new customer acquisition. It often sounds more exciting to go out and find new customers, expand into new markets, and otherwise bring in fresh shiny new business. However, in order to grow, you need to keep your current clients happy. It’s not boring, it’s safe!
Your existing customer base represents one of your biggest opportunities for sales growth, just by selling more to the people who already know you, trust you and are buying from you. Every dollar counts the same, whether it’s a dollar you get from a new customer or an existing customer. Keep in mind that your ongoing client relationships have a significant lifetime value in terms of the thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars that you will earn in revenue from that one client over the (hopefully) many years you have of doing business together.
So as you start your new year, be sure to show some appreciation to your existing customers. Check in with them. Listen to them. Make sure you’re paying attention to their issues and addressing any concerns before it becomes…
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