If there is any such thing as a holy grail in sales, it’s being able to consistently find prospects that are willing to buy. And if those prospects move quickly with short sales cycles and a great close rate, that’s even better. But being able to reliably find prospects like that is almost impossible, right?
Actually, for many companies, prospects like this are sitting right under their nose. They’ve already shown a willingness to buy, and they’re likely willing and able to buy more.
These great prospects are the existing customers that the company already has.
As important as new customer acquisition is for many companies, follow-on sales from existing customers can sometimes take a distant backseat. But chances are, your existing customers could be doing more business with you. Maybe they can be buying more volume. Maybe they can be purchasing complementary products. Maybe they’re buying other products from your competitors simply because they’re not aware that you offer something similar.
These follow-on sales shouldn’t be taking a backseat—and efforts to capture them can be incredibly worthwhile and valuable. In fact, from research we’ve recently conducted and companies we’ve interviewed, concerted efforts to go after these opportunities can bring in an additional 5%-12% of revenue.
So if you’re looking for more prospects that are willing to buy–and let’s face it, you probably are–be sure you’re looking close to home. Those customers you already have could likely be spending more money with you…but you have to start asking them to.
