Does Taking Care of Current Customers Trump Finding New Business?

A new report by Manta indicates that more businesses are spending more than half of their time and budget focused on taking care of existing customers, recognizing that it can be up to ten times more costly to acquire a new customer. On top of that, the study found that the average repeat customer spends 67% more than a new one.

Similarly, small business owners spend the majority of their time and effort investing in existing customer relationships, with 56% of them spending less than 25% of their time and effort on marketing related to customer acquisition.

So when it comes to growth and sales, does taking care of current customers trump finding new business? In many cases, yes.

On top of a clear cost savings, “existing customers can also be leveraged to gain new customers through digital word-of-mouth, such as customers writing reviews, checking in, and posting stories and photos of their experience with businesses. A loyal existing customer can be a brand champion and an important source of new revenue, especially since it can cost up to ten times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.”

This is why taking care of those who already know your brand and have a positive affinity toward your company makes so much sense. Social media channels are an obvious platform for catering to current customer needs and are quickly turning into a hub for customer service.

Does your company use social media channels, like Facebook, as an arm of customer service? (Note: most leading companies embracing interactive business do this).