Increasing sales with existing clients may seem difficult in the current economic climate. Here are 5 soft selling tips for increasing sales without being pushy.
1. Be Proactive
Soft selling does not mean no selling! In boom times it may have been possible to just work on the relationships and trust that your clients would come to you when they wanted something. If you assume that your clients are avoiding spending money on anything except essentials then it means you have to start looking for problems that you can fix. If you are not doing this then you can be sure your competitors are.
2. Prioritise
Some clients will have more potential for growth than others and if you have a wide client base or limited selling time then you should prioritise your clients in terms of existing business and potential business. You need to talk to your existing clients to retain their business but some of them may be more likely to have current problems that you can solve.
3. Review your products and services
Take a step back and look at why your customers really buy from you. It may be possible to offer additional products or services. For example, an aroma therapist wanted to increase sales from her existing clients. She looked at why her clients came to her and realised it was mainly for stress relief. She started to offer additional stress relief products and services which increased the income from each client and provided a whole new side to her business.
4. Discuss problems rather than products and services
People may not be buying but they may still have problems that they want to solve. Rather than talking about your products and services, ask your clients about specific problems you have noticed. Get them to talk about the problem and then ask them if it's a problem they would like to fix. Once you have done that then feel free to offer them a solution.
5. Discover the cost of the status quo
Whilst people may be reluctant to part with their money, they are more likely to if they really considered how much their existing problem is costing them. If the cost of the status quo is much higher than the cost of your solution then there is real potential for a sale. Ask them about the cost of things staying as they currently are rather than pointing out the cost.
If you would like to have a discussion about increasing sales from existing clients then please contact Richard White on email at rwhite@theaccidentalsalesman.com or by phone 01428 651866
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