Statistically, the time that I spend chasing new business opportunities, pitching potential clients and even creating demonstrations and models, has a very poor return on it. It is not a statistic that I measure exactly but I just know that I put far too much time into marketing and gaining new clients than it actually gives me returns. Unfortunately, that’s just the nature of business.

I must invest time into new business opportunities or else that source of income will dry out. It is simple common sense that return customers save work and costs for your business.

How to ensure that you get return customers

When I win a client I see the return on investment when that client continually provides me new work and therefore an ongoing income source. I don’t need to spend time winning that client to my business because I initially did that the first time. Having clients that return to your business as a source of a product or a service is a great way to invest your time. I have three ideas for how to do that.

1. Sell a product or service that requires repurchasing

I once created a set of training tutorials in video format that I was selling as a complete package to my customers. A mentor of mine, and someone who gave me guidance in this type of business, corrected my model and said I should be selling a membership to a library and not a once-off product download. What he said was not only 100% correct but common business sense. A recurring income source is far better than a once off sale. A product that is continually purchased by your customers is the better alternative than a once off sale. As stated, that returning customer does not cost you in time and resource to win those additional sales.

2. Incorporate a follow-up marketing plan

When my business first launched it grew faster than I could handle. I was investing my time in completing my clients’ projects rather than building a business. That cost me relationships with clients that could have produced ongoing work because I had no system and no process for following them up. Simple things like building a portfolio and a mailing list, advising clients of changes that could affect them and potential specials, even routine follow-ups just to stay in contact with them. All these items help build a relationship with your client.

When you have invested time and resource in to winning a client or making a sale, the best way to benefit from that in the future is to incorporate a follow-up or marketing plan to your previous clients and customers. This can be as simple as an email list that you can use to occasionally keep in contact with them, to ensure that your brand is the one they are reminded of the next time they need the particular service or product that you provide.

3. Provide an exceptional first impression

The best way to retain clients and customers and ensure ongoing working relationships with them is to give them an exceptional experience in dealing with you. I have been at both ends of the scale with this. There have been clients that I have failed to impress by missing deadlines or producing poor-quality work. I cannot remember a single interaction of this type that resulted in a second project with them. At the other end of the scale, the customers that I have impressed did result in long working relationships and therefore a continuous source of income.

As the saying goes, “You do only get one chance to make a first impression” so ensure that it counts.