The Myth of Getting New Customers

In my books and newsletters, I've often stated the statistic: "It costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than to get business from a past one." Well, it turns out I was wrong. Or at least, the numbers have changed.

According to The Harvard Business Review, it is now 6-7 times more expensive to gain a customer than to retain a customer. Plus, a study showed that repeat customers spend 67 percent more!

It seems pretty obvious that we need to spend a high percentage of our marketing energy and time focusing on our current and past clients. The most effective way to do this is to keep in contact on a consistent basis - through mail, phone, and email.

The best thing I did for my business was start an email newsletter. Most of the successful designers I work with send a regular email newsletter. It goes out to clients - past and present. The newsletter not only reminds clients about you, but it gets forwarded to friends, leading to referral sales. My collegue and friend, Nicole Lorber (President of the WCAA NJ chapter), told me that she gets between 5 and 10 calls every time she sends out her monthly newsletter. Not a bad investment of time.

If you'd like an inexpensive way to get more sales from past clients and referrals, make it a goal this year to start an email newsletter.

If you'd like a step-by-step guide to launching your email newsletter, go to www.enewsletterblitz.com.