SELLING THROUGH A RECESSION: REtention

The Upside of the Downmarket – How to Retain More Clients

There are 4 main ways you can increase revenue and sell through a recession. Whether you’re a salesperson, executive, or entrepreneur you can use these general strategies to inform your next move.

You can:

Gain – Find new clients 

Retain – Existing clients

Grow – Upsell/cross-sell

Reactivate – Clients who stopped buying

Let’s focus on the Retention aspect – if you can retain clients through a downturn, you’ll come out ahead. One study found that if you can increase your retention by 5% it’ll impact your profit margin by 80-90% (depending on your cost structure). 

The question becomes “what kind of retention strategies can you use to hold on to existing clients?”

The best way to do this is to interview your clients and get an idea of what they want and what would ‘sweeten the deal’ for them.

You’re also going to come up with ideas and see what resonates. Maybe you can:

Create a support plan for the services your company offers.

Joint marketing strategies for both your businesses.  

Technical support or training. 

If it’s a symbiotic relationship, they’re going to want to keep you as a client because you keep helping them out. Find a way to help them make more money and grow their user base.

You’re not concentrating on how to sell more to YOUR customers, but rather focusing on how you can help them sell more to THEIR customers.

When you consistently help them solve their problems, they’re a lot more likely to keep you on board.

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