Many companies' primary marketing focus is on getting new clients. That can be the wrong way to go about business development. A better way is to focus on your current clients and stay in front of them as much as possible. They already know, like and trust you which shortens the sales cycle and opens the doors to more referrals.

I recently spoke with Matt Deutschman about this. He runs Doubletake Promotional Marketing, a company that specializes in promotional products and branded swag for professional services firms, colleges and universities, the financial industry, and advertising and marketing agencies.

Matt’s slogan for his business is “make them look twice”. This is a two-pronged marketing approach. The first one is the promise that his company’s products will make clients and potential clients look twice at their marketing messages. The second one is an important internal meaning for his company. It’s a rallying cry for Matt and his team. For every proposal or conversation with a potential prospect he wants to show them something that they’ve never seen before.

What does this mean for you and your business? Once you get a prospect’s attention by making them look twice show them how you provide outstanding service, why you’re creative, why your product or service is different and more ways to capitalize on the attention that you have in a moment in time.

Why You Should Focus on EXISTING Clients

Matt shares that he’s come across research that it’s seven times easier to get another sale from an existing client than it is to get a sale from a first-time client. Yet there’s a paradox in that 80% of marketing budgets are spent on getting new clients. This surprised Matt. Yes, in order to grow you need to be attracting new clients. Matt’s not saying that you shouldn’t be focusing any efforts on getting new clients. Instead of trying to get new clients completely on your own you should be asking for referrals from existing clients that will sing your praises. That means that it’s very important to stay top of mind with and show appreciation for your existing clients. Matt reverses those numbers and spends a majority of their advertising budget on treating their existing clients like gold.

In short, Matt focuses on and successfully turns existing clients into referral sources to help him grow his business.

Listen In!

In this episode we also discuss:

How to add value to your client relationships without always asking for more business.
How to create a “client appreciation campaign” and add it to your marketing strategy – even during the pandemic.
More ways to stay top of mind with your current clients and potential clients.
When and how to ask for referrals from existing clients without seeming “pushy”.
How to get repeat business from your current clients.
…and more golden nuggets of advice!

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About The Guest

Matt Deutschman is the owner of Doubletake Promotional Marketing, a company that specializes in custom branded promotional products for colleges and universities, advertising/marketing agencies, professional services firms and the finance industry.  Matt founded Doubletake in 2010 and is fourth generation in his family in the promotional marketing industry, previously working for his dad in the family business.  He also has a background in journalism, which provides the framework for his unique ability to ask insightful questions and tell his clients’ stories.  Matt is married and has two children (4 and 2), and has recently published his first children’s book.

Matt is passionate about forging a work/life balance that allows him to spend as much time with his wife an...