Harvest Time

 I just love September. So many wonderful things happen.

First day of school. Cooler weather. First hint of color in the leaves. First Pumpkin Spice Latte.

And, even better than all those things is Harvest time.

All the bounty of the fields gathered in. It feels so rich, so abundant. And so wonderful to know all that goodness is stored and ready to take us through to the next growing season.

So...what does that have to do with business?

Look at Rob.

Rob owned a hearing aid store with a database of 3,500 people who bought from him in the past. We asked him how many of his clients bought a second or third hearing aid from him as technology improved.

His answer was appalling.

Very few.

Rob told us that a person should buy a new hearing aid every two to three years as technology changed. We asked him how many former customers in his database had purchased their hearing aids more than three years ago. He estimated about one-third.

There was the crop…just waiting to be harvested. But Rob had not been doing anything to actively engage those customers to make a new purchase. He was missing out on a goldmine.

The estimated cost of a new hearing aid is $3000-$7000. Do the math. Rob has one third of his database who haven’t bought a hearing aid from him in at least three years. That’s 1,166 people. Multiply that times the price of a new hearing aid.

Rob had $3,498,000-to-$8,162,000 of opportunity right at his fingertips.

Yes, we know every one of those 1,166 people were not going to buy another hearing aid from Rob. If just a fraction did, Rob would be on easy street (Directions, please?).

We challenged him to start making calls to those people. People who already know, like and trust him.  He scheduled 17 new appointments in the first week alone.

One month into the process of harvesting past customers, he’d increased revenue in his practice by an additional $79,000! His customers were thrilled to hear from him (no pun intended), and they appreciated the opportunity to upgrade their hearing aid products to ones that served them better.

He had millions sitting in his database, and through just one month’s effort of reengaging his former customers, he increased his revenue by $79,000 in addition to his usual sales.

Can you imagine how much business is sitting in your entire database of former customers?

It’s harvest season. Take a look at your database and see what bounty is there just waiting for you to gather in to sustain you until your next growing season.

Bring on the Pumpkin Spice Latte!