(an educational given by Nic Dale of BNI Kinesis)

Low hanging fruit is the fruit that is easy to pick off a tree – you don’t need a ladder or to climb the tree to reach the fruit.

When it comes to making additional sales in your business where do you think the low hanging fruit is?

Your existing clients are the low hanging fruit because you already have a relationship with them, they already trust you.

Many business people are finding the current environment difficult and are having trouble attracting new clients. I expect you’re all aware that it costs more to acquire and sell to a new client than it does to an existing one so it’s worthwhile looking at strategies you can use to sell to your existing clients.

What are some ways you can sell to your existing clients?

• Increase the value of your average sale by upselling additional services or complementary products. McDonalds used to ask: “Do you want fries with that?” Now they assume you want a combo and ask if you want to upsize it. Can you do the same and package your product with complementary products?
• Tiered pricing. Research has found that when you give three options most customers take the Goldilocks option; the middle one. By having a range of options the choice becomes which product or service the customer wants not whether or not the customer will buy from you.
• Newsletters allow you to build rapport with your clients. Research suggests 90 days is the maximum period that should elapse between contact with your clients. Newsletters allow you to keep your business top of mind with your clients and develop trust by offering value through industry tips, tools and ideas that you share.
• Before introducing a new product it is best to survey your clients to determine their needs. It is much easier to develop a product for an existing market than it is to force a product on a market. To survey your clients ask; What did we do well? What can we do better? What do you want more of? That last question will identify opportunities to add revenue to your business.
• Offer a referral program and reward and recognise clients who refer business to you.

Footnote: At the conclusion of this education slot I circulated a spreadsheet asking if members had a newsletter and were happy to receive newsletters from others, and their preferred email address. More than 80 percent of members requested other members newsletters. This is another way members can learn about each others businesses.

If you have other strategies for selling to your existing clients use the comment field below.

Secondly, you need a great answer to the question “What do you do? 

Are you defined by your occupation?  Or do you deliver your answer in a way that encourages more conversation?

Invest time in creating a short commercial or elevator pitch that is 7-15 seconds long.  Your elevator pitch is not your 60 second pitch. Your elevator pitch is short and memorable and tells people

• What you do
• How clients benefit from working with you

Describe your talent not your title. For example rather than saying “I’m in real estate” you could say “I specialise in helping people get the most for their money when they buy or sell property.”

To create this mini commercial write down all the services you provide to your clients; think about the problems you solve or how you save them time or money.

Brainstorm why people choose to do business with you.  What makes you special?

Now write out what you do in a way that encourages more conversation.

Make sure your commercial is easily understood and then practice, practice, practice.

Thirdly, to be a good networker you must listen.  You must be interested not interesting.  Networking is not about selling, it is about making connections.  To be effective at networking you must be interested in the other person.  Advance the conversation by asking people what they do.

Then close the conversation by saying: (this tip is pure gold) 

<NAME> it has been great learning about what you do.  I’d like to see if there is anyone in my database who may benefit from what you offer.  Tell me, what is your ideal referral and how can I best refer my clients to you?

Finally, after being told the types of referrals they would like, make sure you follow up and do what you say you’ll do.

Remember, networking is not about selling, it is about talking to strangers, making connections, being prepared with a well crafted commercial and following up.

Contributed by Nic Dale -AdCard Resultant nic@adcard.co.nz  www.adcard.co.nz (orginally presented as an educational to his chapter; thanks Nic!)