Whom should I sell to first?

Some salespeople claim that they could ‘sell to anyone.’ That’s not a good sign for their effectiveness or the way they work. There are clients we should sell to first. But which ones?

Instead of calling ‘everyone in your Rolodex’, as they say, we should classify and prioritise clients. If we develop a good sales strategy, it will lead to a situation in which our existing clients are satisfied with the service and we pick up many new clients - all in a relatively short time. “Time is money” - that’s the key here.

Been a client, will be a client

According to Market Metrics, if we try to sell something to an existing customer, we have a 60-70% chance of success. If, on the other hand, we try to sell something to a completely new person from our potential client base, our chances drop to 5-20%. If you still aren’t convinced, we’ll add that an existing client is as much as 50% more likely to try a new product or service than a new client and will spend an average of 31% more. What’s more, research also shows that 70% of companies indicate that retaining an existing client is much less expensive than acquiring a new one.

We may easily conclude that when it comes to sales, we should start with existing customers and then move on to new ones. Existing customers should have the highest priority. They deserve attention not only because we have a better chance of selling something, but also because their loyalty to the brand and the product.

To sum up, if you’re trying to figure out whom to call first or whom to help first, it’s always worth giving priority to existing clients. Also, when we introduce a new product or service to the market, it’s best to give a demo presentation to a client who already knows your company and uses its solutions. Regardless of the scenario, your chances for a sale will always be higher.

And what if you’re already in touch with all our clients and you already regularly send them personalised sales proposals? In that case, potential clients are next on the list, but start with the most promising ones. That primarily means leads that have already had some sort of interaction with your company. For example, someone who downloaded two e-books from our site or participated in a webinar is a more promising potential customer than someone who has downloaded only one e-book and has not participated in a webinar. You can find this sort of information in your CRM system - which contacts have interacted with the company, in what way, when, and how many times. If we use this knowledge wisely, we will make sales easier.