|
Old clients, new services
|
 |
March 6, 2000: 12:49 p.m. ET
Offering new services to your existing client base can be a tricky concern
By Jane Applegate
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Dear Jane: I'm a psychotherapist who is sick of dealing with insurance companies and all the hassles involved. I started a limousine company with my son and want to add a service to help clients with travel plans, becoming a "concierge for land and sea." I'm not sure what to charge for this kind of service. Would $50 to $100 an hour be fair?
Offering new and different services to your existing customer base is a great way to boost your sales. The challenge is coming up with services that people really want to buy before even worrying about how much to charge for them.
I would recommend conducting a simple marketing survey among your current clients. Send out a two-part, perforated and pre-paid post card with a few questions about your new services.
To encourage a quick response, offer people a discount on a limo ride or free movie tickets if they send it back within a week. Your goal -- to determine if your current clients would consider hiring you to book their airline tickets or cruises in addition to driving them to and from the airport. If you want to offer different types of services, list them and ask people to check off the ones they might use.
I would suspect that many of your clients have experienced travel agents that handle everything but their limousine transportation, so you may be facing some formidable competition.
Rather than competing with local travel agents, why not create a strategic marketing alliance with them? Contact the top agents in your area and suggest that they book limousine trips with your firm when they book business trips or vacations for their clients.
Offer them a preferred rate to work with you. Be creative and make sure any alliance you propose is truly "win-win" for everyone involved.
(Jane Applegate, a syndicated columnist and the author of 201 Great Ideas
for Your Small Business, covers small business for CNNfn.com.) 
|
|
|
|
|
|
ApplegateWay
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
