How healthy is your customer base?

The long term resilience of your business is of course intrinsically linked to the health of your customer base, the demand this will create and your ability to service this.

So how do we make sure we maximise our revenue in the future?

Keep close to your customers
It is vital to develop and draw upon our existing relationships. Do you know how your customers are performing? Do you know what their future plans are? How will this impact what they buy from you, and is there anything you can do to support them to ensure loyalty and orders in the longer term?

Ultimately their success is your success, so make sure you know what’s coming down the track for them, and that you are front and centre when they start to buy again. Over the last few months, most businesses are reassessing how they do things, and this will be no different for your customers. You need to make sure their reappraisal and your actions haven’t taken them towards using other suppliers.

It’s more cost-effective to maintain a business from existing customers rather than having to find new ones in the short term, so for a period, it might be worth offering price incentives or increased bulk discounts.

Where will future demand come from?
In addition to your current customer base, you must also continually identify alternative sales avenues and alternative routes to market.

Are there different market sectors other than the ones you’ve traditionally supplied, but for whom your products or services could be relevant and attractive? For example, these may be similar types of customers but in different sectors. Can what you deliver be realigned or remodelled to adapt to a different customer base or a changed mood in the market?

Protecting your current client base where possible, but also targeting new options should be key priorities. But new markets and opportunities may need different sales and marketing approaches, so start with an open mind, get input from the team, get creative and craft a sales proposition and messages that fit where we are now and that will appeal to the new markets you’re targeting.

Adapting your sales activity is easier than it appears.  You can use existing contacts, social media posts, websites, and their team’s knowledge to access new customers.

Our team at BHP Consulting have all successfully run businesses, and we understand that every business, and every business owner or Director is unique. If you are interested in hearing about how we work with other business leaders to provide mentoring support, please click here to arrange a call or an exploratory face-to-face meeting