by: Dan Lok

Which do you think is harder to do: sell something new to someone who has already bought from you in the past or convince a stranger to make his/her first purchase?

The answer is obvious: a person who has already purchased your product and is enjoying the benefits you promised is a prime target for additional sales.

That's why it's important to build on your existing customer relationships and "leverage" the trust you've earned with the following techniques:

1. After you make a sale, be sure to follow-up with the customer. Sending a thank-you email message is good manners and including an advertisement for other products you sell is good business. You could follow-up every few months, quarterly, send holiday greetings, birthday messages, etc.
2. When a consumer is ready to buy, you can upsell additional items. When they're at your order page, tell them about related products you have for sale -- if you're selling Widgets, tell them about your Widget Cleaning Kit, or Customized Widget Covers. Make it easy (and economical) to add it to their original order.
3. Word-of-mouth is a huge sales generator. Give your customers an incentive for telling friends by offering them discounts for referrals. If possible offer a discount to your old customer AND his/her referral, and then watch as one sale blossoms into dozens.
4. When you sell a product, give your customers the option of joining an affiliate program so they can make commissions selling your product. A satisfied consumer is a great salesperson and your affiliate program can help you turn a single sale into a stream of orders.
5. You could cross-promote your product in a package deal. You can cross-promote your own products or enter into a partnership with another company. At the very least, you'll get free "exchange" advertising. At the most, you'll earn commissions for all the pass-along business. Just be sure that you're cross-promoting items that are related to your product/service and that your customers would truly find interesting.
6. When you ship out or deliver your product, include a discount coupon for other related products you sell in the package.
7. Ever wonder how the "Barbie" empire thrives when the doll itself sells for just a few dollars? It's the add-on products that makes the difference -- Barbie's car, clothes, beauty shop, friends, etc. Tell your customers about upgrades, special services, attachments in a catalogue. If consumers enjoy your product, they'll be grateful for the information and likely to buy the extra add-ons.
8. Sell gift certificates for your products. You can offer either a "pre-paid" gift certificate for a specific item or a dollar-amount certificate that would enable the recipient to make his/her own personal selection. (The second idea works extremely well because often the gift recipient will want something that's more expensive than his/her certificate…and that means more dollars for you!)
9. Send your customers free products (sometimes called promotional items) with their product package. It could be bumper stickers, ball caps, t-shirts etc. The key is to have your ad printed on the item. The free gift is an instant -- and long-term -- billboard for your product or service.

Copyright 2005 Quick Turn Marketing International, Ltd.

About The Author
Dan Lok is known as "The World's #1 Website Conversion Expert", with a proven track record of selling over $25.7 million dollars of merchandise and services. Dan has resuscitated copy that was previously in "critical condition" and helped his clients to double and triple their conversion rates… some as much as 417%!!! More than 200 websites have been "Lok-ed" and loaded for Internet action. Go to: http://www.WebsiteConversionExpert.com.

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