Best Key to Increase Closing Ratios
The most often-asked question of us is how can I increase closing ratios. If you’d like to increase your closing ratio, the biggest hint for you is to focus on where you’ve made the best money before. How did you get those sales? Where did you get those sales? Go back to them, because therein lies the answer.
Biggest hint: Keep in touch with your previous customers!
Your previous customers and the people they talk to is the easiest and best way for you to increase closing ratios.
While the average closing ratio of cold leads for us (those coming from our advertising on the radio, internet, home shows, and other paid advertising that does not have a personal connection to us) is right around 30%, the average closing ratio for Previous Customers, Referrals and Self-Generated Leads is anywhere from 70 – 80%.
To top that off, the numbers consistently show that the average revenues generated from sales to previous customers and referrals are significantly higher than sales on cold leads.
Want to spend half the time for twice the money?
Higher closing ratios and higher dollar volume with less time spent on leads? Wouldn’t you rather run half as many leads for the same dollar volume (or even more more) with people who already know, like and trust you? Think of it: less time, less headache, better relationships, higher sales…happy customers who talk to friends and neighbors…happy sales person!
Knowing this, why wouldn’t you take the time to foster those relationships with your previous customers?
Everyone has 24 hours in a day.
At one of our recent sales meetings, one of the guys mentioned that he has so many new leads that he does not have time to circle back to his previous customers. Wait! Am I missing something? He’s not going back to his surest source of sales? While it could be true that he has too many leads, in sales we want to follow the money. Everyone has the same number of hours in a day. It should never be the case that a sales person does not take the time to go back to those who have bought before.
There are better ways to deal with too many leads; you can either adjust your advertising to slow down the lead spigot or otherwise hire new sales people who do not have a customer base yet. Whatever you do, do not forsake those who have been a good source of sales in the past.
Take good care of your customers
The best way to increase closing ratios is to take good care of your customers and continue to foster those relationships. They will prove to be much easier and enjoyable “bread and butter” than constantly having to seek and win new customer over and over again.
Now get out there and take good care of your customers. Serve them well, stay in touch, and they will take good care of you for the rest of your life!
Here’s a really good hint of where to start:
Go in your database and pull up a list of every person you made a sale to in April of 2016. Start at the top and call every one of them. Begin the call with “Happy 1st Anniversary” or something like that. Tell them you’re just checking in to see how your product or service is holding up, and that will open the door for you to ask if you can help them with anything else or if they know someone else who needs your help or services.
I bet you’ll get at least one sale or great lead by doing this. It works for us, and I’m confident it will work for you. Won’t you let me know?