Just as you are about to say "good-bye" to your hair stylist, you get the question, "shall we make our next appointment?"
Most businesses sell products or services that are cyclical in their "need" curve. In other words, the client has need of your product at regular intervals of time. Examples are a veterinarian (varying amounts of time between "needs"), a tax accountant (at least annually, often monthly or quarterly), or a house painter (five to ten years). The customer, once finished with the transaction knows they will be in need of this service in the future. Most vendors, once finished with the transaction, hopes the customer will remember to come back at that time. But that is exactly the best possible time to pre-sell the next purchase… right then, when the customer is the very happiest they made the purchase from you.
Yet, clients, even if they are happy with the product they purchased, are lost every day because:
· They don't remember who provided that service last time
· A competitor is able to capture your customer by promoting aggressively
· It was more convenient for them to go elsewhere
· The vendor did not pre-sell the next sale
Companies that have a pre-selling program and a way of offering it to customers at the best possible moment are able to retain their customers longer and grow their businesses faster. It might be as simple as, like the hair stylist, just asking for the next appointment.
Larry Galler coaches high-performing executives, professionals, and owners of small businesses to extraordinary acheivement.
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