This past tax filing season was one of our best yet.
And by “best”, I mean that not only did we get to serve a bunch of great San Antonio clients, but we were able to help a lot of tax “issues” get resolved, and made a lot of clients happy.
But one thing in particular made me feel a little warmer on the inside — and that is when a former client (who had drifted away to other providers in recent years) came walking back through the proverbial door.
It happened a few times, and it wasn’t entirely by accident.
I thought it worth sharing with you a little bit more about this. It might be a great strategy for YOUR San Antonio business…
Winning Back Customers In San Antonio
“Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you learn what doesn’t work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity to try a new approach.” – Roger Von Oech
Bar none, the most important asset in your San Antonio business is your client list. I’ll paraphrase Andrew Carnegie who said, in effect: “If you take away all of my wealth, my products, my inventory, my equipment, my staff, in fact, virtually all assets and resources — but leave me my customer lists, I will have everything else back, in short order.”
He’s 100% correct. And, in the past, I have urged you to take the steps to ensure you are on top of this list for your San Antonio business.
There are three segments you should address as we head into summer:
1) Existing Clients
This seems obvious, but frankly it can be one of the most under-utilized — and yet most profitable — groups of customers or clients to pursue.
2) “Lost” Clients
More about these in a minute.
3) Targeted Prospects/New Clients
This is the “sexy” segment … but in my opinion, established business owners spend far too much energy and resources going after this group.
I’d like to posit a thought to you: most of your “lost” clients didn’t leave because you did something wrong. As a San Antonio business owner, it’s easy to take things personally, and believe that when you lose a customer or client, you really messed something up.
Actually, studies indicate the opposite is true: it’s normally something happening in their life or business, not what your business did or didn’t do.
So going back to this list with a simple appeal for their business, to “give you another shot”, is actually a powerful strategy for recapturing business. Winning back customers can be easy. Simply asking for them to return is sure to bring a boatload of “lost” clients back.
Everybody loves being wanted.
But most San Antonio businesses make the mistake of either 1) not even trying to go back after former clients or customers, or 2) simply “keeping them on the list” for regular mailings.
Actually what’s most effective is when you acknowledge that the client or customer hasn’t done business with you recently–and you’d like to incentivize them to give you a shot again. It acknowledges that there is a relationship in play, and that the customer/client isn’t just a number to you.
Try it in the next few weeks … see what happens, and send me a note of thanks when you do. 🙂
Feel very free to forward this article to a San Antonio business associate or client you know who could benefit from our assistance — or simply send them our way? While these particular articles usually relate to business strategy, as you know, we specialize in tax preparation and planning for San Antonio families and business owners. And we always make room for referrals from trusted sources like you.
Warmly,
Sherry Tolbert
(210) 905-4498
Tolbert CPA LLC
