I have written a lot recently about cold-calling and new customer acquisition. One area of potential revenue that continually gets sold short or overlooked, however, is that of lapsed customers. These come from a few different places:
1. They bought from you once, for one thing they needed at the time, and aren't aware that you have other things they could benefit from too. A good example of this is a small local publication we work with who primarily sell ad-space in their paper. The company, however, is a full-service marketing firm with the ability to help their customers grow their business using digital marketing alongside their print ads. They've recently seen a spike in new business by turning these customers on to the other things they have to offer.
2. Customers get lost due to sales force turnover. If you use a CRM, you likely have certain customers assigned to specific sales reps, whether in a round-robin fashion, or on a first-come, first served basis. I just talked to a gentleman yesterday who, after being on the sales floor at a Lexus dealership for two weeks, pulled a similar report from the CRM, and as a result, achieved his sales quota in his first month and every month thereafter. Had he not done that, there likely would have been thousands of dollars in missed revenue for the dealership.
3. They just forgot, and need invited back. You would be surprised about how many times we're talking to our clients' customers and we hear, "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about you guys. Of course I'd like to place another order." With such a distraction-heavy world, you can't afford to be out of sight, and out of mind, because it's leading to more missed revenue.
All of these potential customers are relationships you already have, or had at one point. You don't have to go find them. They don't need marketed to, or gimmicked. They're already in your CRM, or database, and just need re-engaged. Do your customers know all the services and solutions you provide When was the last time you pulled a report of leads, prospects, and customers who are assigned to sales reps that are no longer with your company? Are you continually engaging one-off customers and staying top of mind?