When a business gets sold, it may continue operation but under new management due to the fact that it has a new owner. But in some cases, especially when the business isn’t performing as well as it should be, the best thing to do is to merge with another company. In such a case, one of the most important assets to consider is the customer list. This refers to a list of customers who patronize the business regularly.

Customer Lists Templates

Tips for building your customer list

Building a customer list is of the utmost importance for any business to grow. Of course, it’s a lot easier to make a new friend that it is to make a new client or customer. If you want to make a new friend, you can just approach a person, strike up a conversation, and see where things go from there.

But for business relationships, there are so many things to consider. Most of the time, a friendly approach is just not enough. After all, your business is on the line so you have to do your best so you can start filling up your customer list template. So, what can you do to acquire more and more customers?

Here are some tips to help you out:

  • Establish a client base for your business
    Although it may seem counterproductive to just focus on a specific group when your purpose is to broaden your client base. But when it comes to business, you must first find your niche. Before you can start diversifying the services you offer, you should first master one primary service.
    The same goes for your customers. You should first find out the demographic which needs your products or services the most then target those people. To do this, you can create customer profiles to learn more about the types of people your business will likely work with.
    With any type of business, you must start small, hone in on your target demographic, and start building a reputation among these initial customers.
  • Request for feedback
    If you want to keep on improving to build a strong reputation, you should request feedback from your previous and current customers. This helps you learn about the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Customers appreciate this type of follow-up because it shows that you want to improve.
    The feedback of your customers helps you find out the problem areas you need to deal with to make your business better. Aside from the feedback, you may want to ask your customers for testimonials which you can use for your marketing campaigns.
  • Share what you know to others
    When you read this point, you may raise your eyebrows at the thought of sharing what you know after you’ve spent so much time, effort, and money to create your service or product. You know the worth of what you’ve created and it can be very difficult to let things go for free.
    Although sharing may not seem appealing, giving your customers a taste of what you have to offer goes a long way into drawing them in. No matter what type of business you’re in when you give your customers a little and they like what you gave them, they will come back for more.
  • Reward the loyalty of your customers
    Although your main goal is to bring in more business to increase the size of your Excel customer database template, this shouldn’t take you away from your goal of keeping your customers happy. No matter how great your products or services are, if you don’t reward the loyalty of your customers, they might start looking elsewhere.
    Once you’ve received the payments from your customers, you should never fall into apathy. Instead, you should reward your most loyal customers by encouraging them to keep coming back for more. Giving special deals, discounts, and other promotions remind your customers why they chose your business in the first place.
  • Treat your customers like people and not like business
    Always keep in mind that your customers are people, therefore, you must treat them as such. Unfortunately, this isn’t as clear-cut as this may seem. It can be very challenging to patiently deal with customers while you try to ensure the success of your business.
    Still, you should always remain personable and honest. When you show respect and genuine concern for your customers, they will show you the same courtesy. The more you connect with them on a personal level, the more you can ensure that they become regular customers so you can make them part of your client list template.
  • Reach out to your customers
    There are several ways for you to reach out to the clients in your customer list. But in this modern day and age, the easiest and most convenient way to do this is through email. Emailing your customers about any updates or special offers you have gives you an excellent ROI.
    After a customer signs up with you, send them a welcome email right away. Every time you have something new to offer to your customers, email all of them to keep your momentum going.
  • Allow your customers to access your network
    The more you help your customers, the more they will help you in return. One way you can do this is by sharing one of your customer’s product which complements rather than competes with your own business. Vouching for your customers makes them appreciate you more. In turn, they’ll be more willing to spread the word about your business.

Customer Spreadsheets

Creating and using your customer list template

After you’ve built your customer base, you can start creating your customer list template. That way, you can organize all of the information of your customers and have this on-hand whenever you need to reach out to them or make a market analysis. The more names you add to this list, the more your business grows.

Excel Customer Database Templates

When creating and using your client list template, there are several things to keep in mind:

  • Create two separate spreadsheets to record the information about your customers
    Use one of the spreadsheets to store all of the details of your current customers. Then use the other spreadsheet to store all of the information about your previous customers and your potential customers. Make sure to review and update both lists regularly, especially when you need to make changes or additions to the information.
  • Create a fully-functional, professional website along with a social media account for your business
    No matter what type of business you have and no matter what the size of your business is, you must have a website and a social media presence for it. These days, more and more people rely on the internet and on social media platforms to find what they’re looking for.
    Having an attractive website and an interactive social media account broadens your market and helps spread the word of your business to more people. If you don’t possess the skills to create your own website or social media account, you can hire a web designer to do the work for you.
  • Do research on local business listings for companies which may need your products or services
    Aside from the information on your customer list, you may also want to reach out to companies who may require your products or services. Once you’ve built a good customer base and you’ve created a good business relationship with them, it’s time to expand your horizons.
    Check the local business listings to see the names of the companies in your locale. Then create a different introduction letter to send to these companies to let them know about your business and what you have to offer.

Client List Templates

Selling your customer list

Selling a customer list doesn’t apply to all types of businesses. For instance, offering your customer list template to another retail business won’t be a fruitful endeavor. The reason for this is that even the smallest changes in a retail business can cause you to lose a lot of customers.

Whether you change location or you rebrand your business, a lot of customers may decide to move on. Therefore, the names on your Excel customer database template won’t be much of a help. Of course, this isn’t always the case.

Most of the time, the sale of a client list occurs when a business owner plans to close up shop and he wants to pass on his clients to another similar business. In such a case, you can sell your client list template to your competition or to a new business that’s opening in the same area.

When you do this, it may be a good idea to inform your customers prior to the sale. If some of them don’t want you to give their information to another business, you must request these wishes. Selling a customer base is a win-win situation for both the seller and the buyer.

The seller profits from the sale of his customer list while the buyer profits by getting an entire customer base without much effort. When such a sale happens, both parties must come to an agreement which they both benefit from. Also, the buyer should care for the customers as much as the seller used to do if he wants to keep all of them.

Client Tracker Templates

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Tagged:BusinessCustomerCustomer ListsList
TemplateLab April 29th, 2021