digital marketing
By Carrie-ann | Nov 18, 2016 | Planning Your Marketing

How to up-sell through aftercare

In sales and marketing, creating demand, generating leads and acquiring new customers will often be the goal. However, studies show that satisfied customers are much more likely to buy from the same company again than new leads. For this reason, marketing campaigns with an eye to upselling also need to focus on aftercare, customer satisfaction and retention. Creating customer life-time value and nurturing existing customer relationships are real revenue-generating activities.
Rethink Customer Relationship Management
A good account manager who is assigned to a certain client or company is one who keeps the customer in the loop. They check in and ask if they are still satisfied with the product or service, and they send press releases they think might be of interest. This is just fine, but it’s not actively generating more sales. Aside from person-to-person phone calls, the CRM might not have any more options. This is because marketing is not producing content specifically designed to nurture or expand existing customer sales.
How to Write Existing Customer Material
They already own the product, so there’s no point telling them about it. Right? Not necessarily. Most product owners only use a small fraction of their device’s functions or their service’s options. By producing content which informs current owners of the added benefits, you could be handing them the equivalent of a new product for free. This is an instant satisfaction boost.
Show You Know Their Business
Customers who buy specific products do so because of a business or personal need. You don’t need to just send them information on their product – you can also send them more diverse information that would interest them in their personal life or for their business model. This shows the customer that you understand what they do and what their needs are. This is flattering but also creates more trust when they are considering future purchases from you.
Deal with Issues the Right Way
An important part of upselling is aftercare. However, after a less than shining review or check-in phone call, many CRMs will recoil. Avoiding unsatisfied customers is not going to generate more sales. Remember that if they have already purchased from you, they have an existing relationship with your company and are still more likely to buy from you again. Issues need to be resolved as part of their aftercare. In fact, you may find a well-resolved issue creates more trust than you would have if there had never been an issue in the first place. Aftercare in itself is a product that customers come to expect but which very few know how to deliver well. By being an organisation associated with good aftercare, you will be not only nurturing existing customer relationships but also building a positive brand identify.