The Rewards of Recurring Revenue

Here’s another idea for you to consider. If you truly want a customer for life, you need to “sign them up” for life. Create a monthly subscription, membership, club, or any number of other possible revenue sources. Once you have a “monthly product”…sell your customers on the idea.

If you’ve successfully converted your customers into raving fans, they’ll jump at the chance to be one of your exclusive customers. They’ll gladly agree to pay for future products or services.
Because they know you’ll deliver! And you’ll get a regular payment. So, why not do the job of
selling once, and reap the benefits of consistent, repeated income?

With recurring revenue opportunities--you are on the right side of human behavior. After all, no matter how much your customers love you, no one wants to be sold to. And, by providing a recurring revenue possibility, the selling is done. They said yes once, but that “yes” is going to pay you over and over again. And, you don’t have to be constantly asking for another sale.

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Well that’s a great plan for magazines and utility companies. But, I own a Laundromat. How can I generate recurring revenue?”

There is always a way to set up a routine service or product. If you’re a Laundromat, begin offering weekly, or biweekly pick-up services (that your customers pay for-even on weeks they have nothing to give you.)

Sell your newsletter. Start a “members-only” blog or forum. Put together a value-embedded DVD or CD each month. (You’ve heard of the “Fruit of the Month” club, right?) Just don’t miss your chance to build your bank account on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. 

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

The Subliminal Logic of the Upsell let me explain for you

It’s impossible to go to a fast food restaurant without having someone ask you if you would like to “Supersize That.” Once that happens, it’s like an invisible force is speaking to the irrational side of our brains. We have a brief moment of logic as we figure out--59 cents more, for double the food, is a great value. But that is the full extent of our logical power. Afterwards, irrationality steps in and rather than consider if we can even eat double the food, we pat ourselves on the back for being a smart consumer.
This is the very purpose behind coupon distribution. If you are standing in front of the canned beans in a grocery store, and there is a coupon attached to each can, how many cans of beans are you going to buy? You only needed one. But there’s that consumer logic at work again. “30 cents off is a great bargain! I’m
buying five cans!” And you go home with more beans than you could possibly need, but a receipt that shows your “savings.” What a deal!
 
Too many times small business owners tell me they don’t up-sell because they don’t want to anger their customers. I cringe when I hear that. You always have to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes. If, after buying a product, someone suggests you upgrade, do you get angry?
No. Now, if you pester the person until they run away from you screaming, then you have a problem. But if you ask and cater to that “bargain” mentality, they’ll either tell you no or they’ll upgrade and thank you for such a wonderful deal.

Think of how many places you see the up-sell attempt. Fast food restaurants want you to supersize. Retailers want you to purchase extended warranty protection. Car rental companies give you your choice of a dozen upgraded insurance options. And no one gets mad.

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

Cross Selling Simplicity in your online business

Chances are good that you have more than one product or service. Those that are wise, take the time to promote their other products. In “Win Lifelong Customers” we talked about sending out targeted marketing campaigns. What if in that campaign you said something along these lines:

Dear Customer,
Recently you purchased product X. Product X is a phenomenal product. But you know, it’s not the only thing that can fill your needs and wants. I think product Y is a good match for you, also.

If you’ve ever been a Netflix customer, you’ve seen this idea in action. When browsing through
the selection of movies, there is a sidebar that says, “Customers who choose this movie also
enjoyed…” Bam! Suddenly there are a dozen more movies for the customer to consider. The consumer adds one or two movies to their wish list until, in an effort to get to them all, they choose to have three movies sent at one time instead of two.

This same technique is used on Amazon, Columbia House, and a million other places. But it’s not just online where this technique is successfully employed. Cross selling can be done by anyone in any situation.

By keeping a customer database, as discussed in previous chapters, you will be able to simply,
and effectively cross sell to your customers. Because you know what they’ll buy. You know what
interests them, and you know what they won’t be able to resist. Dangle M&Ms in the face of a
chocolate lover, and they’ll respond. Offer them carrots, and they may not even turn their heads.
But they will thank you profusely for giving them the chance to eat M&M’s.

Are you the type of company that thanks customers for their purchase,
crosses your fingers, and hope they’ll come back again? Small businesses
do not have the luxury of hoping. If you’ve built a relationship with a customer,
they’ll want to buy from you again. All you need to do is give them a
push in the right direction.

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

You’re in Business to Make Money--So Make it!

Who is the easiest person in the world to sell to? That’s an easy one, right? It’s a happy customer. For one thing, they already know and trust you. Secondly, they know what they can expect from your company. And third, they obviously have a need or a want for your product. Selling to this customer is a piece of cake. So why don’t more small business owners take advantage of it?

Complacency is the worst habit of small business owners. The customer buys. The business owner is pleased with the sale. End of story. Why is it always the end of the story? For me, this is akin to small business owners sitting in front of a gold mine and not making the extra effort to actually walk inside.

Let’s do another quick calculation. What if, instead of being satisfied with a customer’s purchase, you made the effort to up-sell to every customer who bought from you? For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to make up some numbers.Your product costs $100. The upgraded version of your product is just $10 more. Of 100 customers, 10% will upgrade their product. Let’s run the numbers.

10% of 100 customers =10 Customers that upgrade.10 Customers x $10 = $100

You could have made an extra $100 if you had taken the time to ask for it. Now what if that product had been worth thousands of dollars, and the upgrade a couple hundred? Can you see the amount of money that was lost because the small business owner stopped selling once his customer said “Okay?”

Guess what? Your customer may actually want more. They might be thinking, “You provide me with an incredible buying experience, ask me for it, and I’ll give you more money.” But most small business owners say,

“Thank you,” and leave it at that. Well, at least they’re being polite.

 © 2008 By Clate Mask

Flip Your Funnel in your own business huh !!! let me show you

To explain what I mean by “Flip Your Funnel” I need to review the funnel diagram.

We’ve worked our way down the funnel from prospect to that magical moment when the prospect becomes a buyer.

When your customer reaches that point, you give them a great buying experience, follow-up and otherwise build that lifelong relationship with them. “Flip Your Funnel” refers to your ability to upsell, cross sell, and otherwise sell to your customers so that you are getting the most value from and giving value to each of your customers in return.

Look at the two funnel diagrams below. In the first, we guide our prospects through the funnel to the selling point. It is at this point that your customer database begins to settle on the bot

tom.

In the second diagram, the small business owner flips the funnel upside down and begins

reselling to existing customers. It doesn’t stop after that initial sale!! There is still money to be made, and moments to master.

The sales process requires the continuous courting of your customer

Flipping your funnel is going to create the “super-customer.” One who spends significant

amounts of money in your business, loves you, and brings in dozens of referrals.

And, once again, customer follow-up (or mastering your moments) is a key principle for winning

life-long customers AND flipping the funnel. However, with “Win Lifelong Customers” we are

more interested in building the customer database and providing that predictable experience.

When we “Flip the Funnel,” we’re focusing on what we can do with the database to make more money, and convince our customers to talk about us.

Think of it this way…any relationship worth having is worth continually working on.

© 2008 By Clate Mask