How to Market New Services to Existing Clients
Market Your New Services to Existing Clients
You’ve created a new service for your private practice and, like everyone else, you’re obsessed with getting new clients. It’s an endless effort to bring in fresh faces and convince them to try your services. Sometimes you succeed, sometimes you don’t, but you never stop trying. What if I were to tell you that there’s an entire group of people you’re missing with your marketing? These are people who have proven that they will buy from you, but they aren’t given the time of day with your current marketing plan. That’s right– I’m talking about your existing clients. Your existing clients are more valuable than the prospective ones. Existing clients already trust you and will buy from you if you let them. [Tweet “Existing clients are more valuable than prospective ones. They trust you and will buy from you.”] Research shows that existing clients spent 33% more than new clients. This is why you shouldn’t overlook this group. Instead, make marketing to your existing clients your number one priority. Let’s take a look at the best ways to market to this proven group of clients.Survey
Start by conducting a survey on your existing clients. If you haven’t created a new service yet, a simple survey is a great way to research needs. Use the survey results to decide what services to offer to your clientele. However, if you have already created the service, a survey can help you determine what percentage of your clients are interested in trying it. Be sure to ask follow up questions, such as:- How much would you be willing to pay for this service?
- Do you know anyone else who may need this service?
- On a scale of 1 – 5 (1 being not likely at all, 5 being highly likely), how likely are you to try this service? If not likely, why?
Create a Personalized Plan
There are benefits to operating a private practice, one being the ability to understand the individual needs and struggles for each of your clients. You can use what you know about your clients to formulate a personalized marketing plan.
If you know a client needs access to your new service, connect the dots for them. Introduce your client to the new service and explain how he or she would benefit. Be specific in your language and set up your new service as a graduation, or the logical next step in the therapy.
Offer a Free Mini-Session
Nothing convinces quite like the word “free.” If you are able, give your most loyal clients a trial session for free. It doesn’t need to be a full session. Instead, think of ways to give your clients a preview of what to expect without a full-on commitment. For example, instead of offering an hour long session for free, consider going with a truncated 15 minute mini-session. Use these free mini-sessions as a focus group also. You can learn a lot from the honest feedback of your existing clients, such as overlooked weaknesses in your new services and opportunities to improve what you offer.Educate Them With Your Website
You’ve got a website – it’s high time that you use it for more than directing people to “like” you on Facebook. Use your website to educate your existing (and prospective) clients on your new services.
Be sure to highlight your services on your website, but go beyond price and a bare bones description of the service. Go into detail. Discuss what the service is and how the client will benefit from it. Make your case with testimonials, case studies, or statistics. Resist the urge to list details: instead, focus on benefits.
Aim to create an exhaustive resource on your website, and then direct interested clients to that resource. Accompany your resource with a set of frequently asked questions (feel free to update as necessary) to address, and then put to rest, any potential concerns your clients may have.
Use Email
Have you created an email list? If your response is, no, my response is, you should immediately. Would you like a quick start guide to creating an email list? Check this out! Click Here An email list is a great opportunity to keep up with your clients. If they’ve given you their email address, that means they want to hear from you on a regular basis. Use this opportunity to give your existing clients an exclusive first look at your new services. Not only will that make your existing clients feel special, it will also help you gauge interest. Offer your free trial sessions to your loyal email subscriber base first. You can also turn these emails into an incentive-based contest (everyone loves winning a contest). For example, offer a free full-length session to clients who successfully refer a certain number of other clients to you.Go With Snail Mail
If you’ve been in private practice for a while, you may not have email addresses for all of your existing clients. That’s okay. If you have their address, you can do something similar through snail mail.
Have you considered a snail mail campaign?
Create a catchy postcard or flyer for your new service and then mail it out to your current clients. Include a specialized coupon for your new service as an incentive. Your coupon can either be a certain percentage off, an increment of time, or some other measurable designation.
Distribute Print Literature
Last, but certainly not least, is to print up literature to freely pass out to your clients. Create a flyer or brochure specifically for your new service(s). It doesn’t need to go in depth (remember you can always point clients to your website for more information), but it should give a decent overview and provide an introduction for your new offering(s). Always explain how your service will help the client, don’t just focus on features. Here are a few things to consider when marketing with flyers:- Create colorful, eye-grabbing flyers and then place a stack of them on the reception desk for easy access.
- Hand out your new services flyer when you sign in your clients, or attach the flyer to your intake forms.
- Be sure to educate your front desk staff so they can promote and answer questions about your new services.
- Use the same flyer or postcard to send out on your snail mail marketing campaign.
Final Thoughts
Marketing new services to old clients can be a lot easier than finding new clients to woo. Use these above tips to help you reach those who are already invested in your services. They’re more likely to invest in your new offerings, too. Would you like a quick start guide to creating an email list? Check this out! Click Here
