I do a lot in my business to help small established businesses use graphic design to get more leads. That means I help them get new customers and that’s been a big focus in the entrepreneur and small business communities for a long time. I see ads all the time about the best ways to get new clients. I’ll be super honest a stream of new leads and new clients are important for any business, but let’s not forget about our existing ones! Here’s why your existing clients are important for success and two things you can do to support them!
The best piece of advice I’ve ever gotten was from someone I met at my first ever networking event. One of the people I met was days away from retiring after 40 years in business. I asked them what’s something they would want a new business to know and they look me straight in the eye and said “don’t forget the people who built you”
What they meant by this is that as much fun as it is to have new clients, your past clients are more likely to become repeat buyers. These people believed in you at the beginning and were a key building block in your success.
If you keep in touch with them and continue to nurture the relationship you have with them, they will keep coming back to buy from you because they still believe in you.
If your existing clients like your business they will 100% refer you. I see it happen all the time amongst my networking community. People love to share places they enjoy. They will tell all their friends about you if they love you and they will tag your business in recommendations posts on social media frequently. I have one networking partner who when someone asks for recommendations in her industry her name is posted at least 20 times and you know who all those recommendations are from — her past clients.
They are the ones who when you need to get voted for an award on social media, will hit the vote button. They’ll write you a 5-star review without you asking and do other little things to support your business both online and offline. I’ve seen businesses with very loyal followings have their past clients drive from long distances to cheer on the business when they were up for a local award. They filled the entire table at the awards ceremony with their oldest and most loyal clients and out of everyone there that day, their table had the loudest cheers and whistles.
This why you need to keep in touch with past clients after the initial sale is done. Create a database or a notebook of past customers and do things to make them feel special. One popular idea is to run sales just for them and offer little perks for repeater customers. This is one reason loyalty punch cards are so popular, who doesn’t want to get free stuff or exclusive discounts. Speaking of free stuff, end-of-the-year client gifts is another popular option. These can be branded items from a promo products company or they can be a gift card inside a custom branded note card.
Your existing clients love you and if you love them back, they will support you and your business for a long time!
By the way, If you’re ready to invest in your business’s branding and take it from hot mess to heck yes, I can help you! I’ve helped dozens of small businesses create marketing materials and logos that helped them get leads and grow their business either through my done for you design service or my design consulting service and I can help your business do that too, but only if you’re really ready to create stand-out marketing materials that your potential customer will notice and be on your way to selling more and stressing less. Curious how I can help you?
I’d love to invite you to a FREE 30 minute 1:1 Getting to Know You Strategy Session. Email me today and let’s chat about how design can get your business where you want it to be and see if working together makes sense!