8 Surefire Ways to Earn More Money From the Customers You Already Have The quickest way to boost earnings is to bring more value to your existing customers.
By R.L. Adams Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Traditional means and ways of thinking make us surmise that to increase our business's income, we need to increase our leads and new customer sales. However, to savvy business owners and online marketers who understand the mechanics of conversions, email sequences and sales funnels, nothing could be further from the truth.
The biggest businesses in the world know that customer acquisition is pricey, and that without tapping into the existing roster of customers or clients, an abundant amount of money is being left on the table. Sure, you could earn more money in business by attracting more customers. But at what cost?
Smart marketers focus on their existing customers and clients because they know that if they deliver an immense amount of value and develop a deep-rooted relationship with them, the money will follow. It's a proven and formulaic fact that extracting more money from existing customers is not only cheaper, but also more effective.
And, if you can turn your existing customers into raving fans, then you won't need to do delve into vast expenditures for online marketing and visibility. Of course, not everyone understands the mechanics of how business works at its genetic level. And that's precisely why many of the best businesses turn to highly-paid consultants who work to shed light on this very topic.
But what happens when you lack the budget to hire a costly consultant? Not to mention, what happens when you hire a consultant who over-promises and under-delivers? Then you're left no further ahead. In fact, you might find yourself much farther behind. And if you're counting on that consultant to come through for you, then where do you turn?
Getting over that fear might not be easy for most entrepreneurs, especially when their businesses are on the line. However, there are 8 very powerful bulletproof ways to earn more money in your existing business without having to go out there and scour the ends of the earth to find new customers.
The truth is that your existing customers are a gold mine of wealth. Not just monetarily speaking. I'm talking about data and knowledge subsets, the kind of information that could transform the shape and quality of your business. Of course, they're also a source for increased revenue streams. But that all depends on how you play your proverbial cards.
Related: Want to Drive Growth? Improve Customer Support.
1. Survey your existing customers to learn their pain points.
If you're serious about earning more money through your existing business, then tap into the treasure trove of data that your current customers hold. Pick up the phone and call them one by one or send them each an email with a few survey questions. If you have hundreds (or thousands) of customers, you can automate this process in a number of ways.
What you need to do is to ask them what their pain points are. In business, the best way to make money is to solve your customer's problems. Whatever problem they have, the better you can solve it, the more money you can make. But there might also be some ancillary problems that you can solve, as opposed to the core problems who might already be working to solve, which could allow you to open up untapped revenue streams you might not have thought of yet.
Find out what those problems or pain points are by sending them a brief survey. Entice them with some reward you'll give them for a few minutes of their time and use survey tools like Survey Monkey, TypeForm, or Google Forms to implement this. Here are some types of questions you can pose to them to see what the pain points are and how you might further be able to solve them:
- How likely are you to recommend our company? And why?
- What can we do better or offer more to help serve you?
- In an ideal world, what product or service could we provide that would help you the most?
- Have we been helpful and knowledgeable when assisting you?
- If you tried to contact us before you became a customer, what was your experience like? How can we improve?
- Do you have any other suggestions that can help us to help you better?
Related: 6 Exceptional Examples of Brands Showing Their Customer Appreciation
2. Create complementary products or services.
Find ways to create complementary products or services that you can market to your existing customer base. These could be upgrades of existing products or services, or a new line-up that would help them achieve their goals or solve more problems. This is an enormous revenue stream just waiting to be tapped into.
Use the survey answers to find out what else you can offer and then create those products or services to add massive amounts of value to the lives of your customers. That's the surest pathway to assisting them. Write down five complementary types of products or services that you know would help your customers right now.
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3. Build a continuity program.
Every business needs a continuity program. This is passive income for your business that you absolutely must have and create if you don't want to struggle just to meet your debt obligations every single month. What type of continuity program can you offer? Possibly a membership site? Some type of on-going service?
For example, dentists have a recurring teeth-cleaning program where you go in every three to six months or so. A chiropractor might have monthly adjustments and a gym has a recurring membership fee. Figure out what you can bill on a recurring basis and create a rock-solid continuity program that will pay you on autopilot.
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4. Create a weekly newsletter or video that delivers massive value.
One great way to extract more dollars and cents out of existing customers is to deliver massive amounts of value to them on an ongoing basis. Create a weekly or monthly newsletter or deliver something else that really helps them to solve a problem or fill a void or need. Don't be afraid to give away the proverbial farm here.
The truth? Even for customers who you haven't seen for some time, by delivering something of real value to them on an ongoing basis, they'll likely come back around and buy whatever it is that you're selling today. There is real power in delivering value like this for free without trying to build a pay-wall around it.
Related: If You Want Real Relationships With Your Customers, Start Being a Better Partner
5. Develop a relationship through an email sequence.
Most entrepreneurs don't understand or appreciate the necessity to develop an authentic relationship with their customers. However, one of the most important things that I've discovered in business is that, once you do develop that bond, selling is more of a byproduct than a central pursuit.
When that bond deepens, and those customers can truly relate to you through honest and transparent stories that shows real authenticity, and you also deliver value in that exchange, you can sell virtually anything from low-ticket services to high-ticket digital products. The deeper the emotional bond, the higher the price-point you can sell almost automatically to those consumers.
Related: 4 Distractions You Must Stop Stressing Over If You Want to Succeed
6. Offer affiliated products or services.
To increase the lifetime value of your customers, offer them affiliated products or services from time to time that you think they might benefit from. This is easier than building out new offers and will provide you with some interim cash if you're looking to boost your business income in the short term.
However, if you're really looking to earn more money here in your business, you have to vet every affiliated product or service that you market to your customers. If not, and they suffer through a poor experience, it will reflect negatively on you so do your due diligence before recommending anything or anyone.
Related: 4 Success Tips From Small Businesses That Are Doing It Right
7. Make yourself an authority in your industry or niche.
One way to earn more money in business is to set yourself up as an authority. By doing this, you're commanding an audience in your niche. They're turning to you for advice and guidance. They look to your opinion and your instructions on how to go about doing something because you add value to the conversation.
And when you do this, selling becomes almost effortless. This is often phrased referred to as magnetic marketing or attraction marketing because you're pulling the customers in rather than attempting to push them to you through some form of disruptive advertising.
Related: Why This Entrepreneur Scaled Back His No. 1 Product
8. Concoct a powerful loyalty or referral program.
There's a reason why big brands and corporations have loyalty programs. They know that by getting their existing customers to spend more money by making it enticing, they can reward cyclical buying patterns that boost their bottom line. Now, depending on the type, size and style of business, this loyalty or program can vary drastically.
However, this is a great way to access untapped profits by getting your customers to spend more and refer their friends. Find a great benefit that you can offer that will make this enticing enough for your customers to leverage and wield whatever type of program you put into place.
