MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN SELLING TO EXISTING CUSTOMERS

No business can do without its existing customers as they are quite integral when it comes to sales generation and revenue growth. As a matter of fact 48% of companies report getting 60% or more of their revenue from existing customers according to Totango. Considering how significant these figures are with respect to a company’s financial success, existing customers should hold a dear place in the heart of businesses but this isn’t always easy. The fact that someone patronized something from you doesn’t mean they’ll continue doing so over and over again. Furthermore, many sales persons - despite having lots of experience in bringing on board new customers - seem to be lacking in experience when trying to sell to their organization’s existing customer base. This results in no shortages of challenges as errors committed will have a negative bearing not only on  the organization's revenue but cause a strain on the organization's relationship with customer. Read on to know about 4 of the most common mistakes salespeople make when working with their existing customers and how to avoid them

1. Skipping customer activity and past product research

It is a critical mistake to not document transactions, conversations with support, online activity, emails and other correspondence with customers during sales processes. Documenting customers’ activity on your website, social media and in your customer community provides you with a rich  source of information to lean on - information you can you use to tailor future conversation. By disregarding past details  and transactions of customers, you set yourself up for massive failure in that you will have no basis for relating to him/her, embarrassing yourself in the end and creating a dissatisfied customer who feels unappreciated.

2. Making sales to all existing customers

So you have a database full of names of existing customers. That’s great! This however does not mean you should approach all of them to make sales. Not all of them are interested in making purchases at this particular time. Don’t make the mistake of trying to sell to get everyone that buy your product. You will waste your time, effort and likely cause a strain in your relationship with  the customer by annoying him/her. To avoid this mistake, make sure to reach out to customers with activity data full of buying signals such as participating in discussions, browsing content for new products, watching videos etc and leave those who don’t express any interest.

3. Pitching poorly

When communicating to a customer, your message needs to be in alignment. You do not have to be pushy, heartless or disregard your customers’ objections or opinions. Accept all objections from the customer and try as much as possible to tweak our responses based on  the information you receive from them. It is also essential that you are brutally candid about your company, product and sales terms. Leading the customer on with false information can potentially mess up your relationship with your customer forever and hurt your company’s customer satisfaction and retention rates as well.

4. Failing to follow up

When you sell to your existing customer base, it is important to understand that you are blending sales with account management, customer satisfaction, retention and everything that goes into getting and keeping customers.  You don't want to create customers who feel unappreciated so follow up whether or not you close a sale. Should you close a sale, follow up to confirm that your customer is satisfied and enjoying the product. Should you also fail to close a sale, give it some time then restore contact once more to make sure customer was satisfied with the recent conversation, past purchases and the company as a whole. Not only will they feel valued, they may even  become more receptive as they open up to learning more about additional products and services

Just like you, Pici & Pici are in the trenches every day selling and building our training business and that’s why we have the expertise to deliver power-packed training programs and presentations that will guide you and your team toward greater productivity, performance, and goal achievement. We provide a wealth of tactical skills, strategies, and techniques you for immediate application. Available from Pici & Pici, Inc. exist the following services that when taken advantage of will lead to great business success regardless of the industry, economic condition, and cultures inwhichever part of the world you find yourself:

•        Corporate Sales Training
•        Tactical Sales Training
•        Live Phone Coaching
•        LinkedIn for Lead Generation
•        Intensive – Results Driven Boot Camps
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•        Keynote Speaker