Marketing to your existing client base

By Lee Rossini

It’s a challenge to manage your financial advice business in a crowded marketplace. Marketing involves communicating to an identified target market how your services will best meet their needs, concerns and objectives.  Today, there are a myriad of different ways of marketing a business. The point is, are your efforts reaching the right clients? Many small businesses spend large sums of money on marketing without carrying out the basics. This includes marketing to an existing client base.     

Start with your existing client base

Until recently, sales production and targets were the order of the day and this meant finding new clients on a regular basis. Although marketing to new clients is appropriate at times, before engaging in a costly marketing campaign, consider a marketing exercise pitched at your existing clients first. 

The benefits

Promoting and marketing your business to existing clients is a good way of retaining them as clients and ensuring their loyalty to the business. Marketing to existing clients has other benefits as well:

• Deepening relationships often takes place after the sale and delivery of a service. 
• It takes time to build a relationship of trust with a new client. 
• There are costs involved in constantly trying to find new clients. A great deal of effort goes into attracting and keeping new clients.
• Your clients are less likely to leave you for a competing business.
• Satisfied current clients are more likely to make referrals to the business. This is one of the main benefits of marketing to existing clients.

Marketing to an existing client base means going through your client files and identifying those clients you haven’t spoken to in a while. Communicate with your clients and listen to what their needs are. Does the service offered by your business meet their needs? Put in the hours learning about your clients, their circumstances and their needs; the more you understand about your client and their world, the better prepared you will be at solving their challenges and concerns. Your current client base should be seen as prospects and meeting their needs should form the basis of a marketing action plan.   

Referrals   

Your existing clients have the power to influence others to join your business. By involving satisfied clients in a marketing exercise, you can attract new prospects and turn them into clients. This begins as happy clients spread the word about your business within their social, family and business networks. Loyal clients are also willing to share their story of their experience with your business in social media posts, interviews, testimonials, articles and at conferences. 

It's worth it

Your existing clients are already convinced of the value you bring to their financial lives and are quite happy to pay for it. Marketing to them reminds them of your business, its services and value. Remaining at forefront of your clients’ minds will reinforce the positive relationship you have with them. On the other hand, new clients are less certain of what to expect and whether you will deliver on your promises. They will often take their time before referring you to others. Before spending time and money on marketing to new clients, market to your existing clients. This should result in increased revenue, improved client lifetime value and access to their networks as an additional source of business growth.