5 Easy Repeat Business Strategies

Did you know that it costs on average over 5 times more to attract new customers than it does to keep your current ones? How about the fact that selling to existing customers is drastically more successful than selling to new customers (60-70% success rate for existing customers vs. 5-20% success rate for new customers)?

Successful businesses understand that their most profitable customers are their current client base. Your business has already spent good money to convince your customers to use your cleaning services. If you’re not taking full advantage of the hard work you have done by selling and servicing your clients, then you’re missing out on some very real profits. Research shows that by increasing your client retention (the number of customers that use your services again) by 5%, you can increase your profits by 25% to 95%.

Again... this is crucial for the long-term success of your business. To illustrate this point, a carpet cleaning company conducted a survey at a home trade show and asked home owners to recall the name of the last carpet cleaning company they used. Less than 1% of those who stated they were satisfied with their cleaning could recall the company name. If your customers can’t remember your name, how are they going to get ahold of you when they need additional cleaning? There are many ways you can help to ensure that your customers will call you again next time, instead of calling your competition.

‍1. Reminders

‍Reminders serve two very important purposes. First, they let the customer know that you are a professional, detailed-oriented company. Second, it reminds them that they need to be serviced again (by YOU). You can send reminder postcards, letters, emails or whatever else you want, but always try to add that personal touch by customizing it (use their name, last service date, pet's name, etc.).

‍2. Additional Service Marketing

‍If you offer more than one type of service, it’s a great idea to market to customers who have already used one of your other offerings. For instance, if a customer has you clean their carpets, send them some sort of marketing communication (letter, card, email, etc.) offering your tile and grout services 2 or 3 months after the job. This serves a dual purpose: It will help keep your name in front of them, and it also keeps them from going to another company simply because they were unaware of your tile cleaning service.

‍3. Newsletters

Send newsletters quarterly, or even monthly. This will keep your name and phone number in front of them all year. Be sure to add some sort of content that offers them something of interest. Make them want to read it, or at the very least just notice it. Newsletters also serve as a great way to connect with your local community.

‍4. Trinkets

‍Calendars, magnets, pens and emergency contact lists are great trinkets you can leave behind to help them remember you and keep your phone number easy to find.

‍5. Social Media Engagement

This is a huge one in the digital age: Encourage your customers to interact with you on social media. Now, the vast majority of adults use social media on a daily basis (check out some statistics here). As a business owner who is active on social media, this is an incredible opportunity for you to stay engaged with those past customers. Even just posting regularly will ensure that they see your name and your content on a far more regular basis than ever before.

None of these marketing strategies are secrets. In fact, you’ve probably identified the ones you promised yourself to do and have not completed. The education of WHAT to do is only half of the battle. You actually have to DO IT for it to be effective. Very few of us wants to come home after a hard day of work and sift through last year's invoices, compile a list of clients to market to, and create customized letters, post cards, or emails for each one of them.

The good news is that you don’t have to.

One of ServiceMonster's greatest strengths, our automated marketing features, gives you the ability to perform most of these tasks effortlessly. By creating marketing campaigns with ServiceMonster, you can generate letters, labels, calls, and emails which are targeted and customized. With a few clicks, you're off and running, your marketing is done, and you can spend more time with your newly found profits (and of course, your family).

If you haven't tried ServiceMonster, you can get started with a free 14-day trial here.