If you don't have follow-on or "back end" products to sell your customers you are leaving a lot of money on the table. To put it simply all front end and no backend is bad business... but it's a common business model. Especially for a service business or a business that only has one big product. There are two goals for your backend strategy: 1. To maintain top of mind awareness with your existing customers so when the need arises they think of you first and 2. To generate additional revenue. Here are five easy backend strategies: #1 Wholesale - No matter the business you're in, you can find products you can buy wholesale and sell retail. Make a selection of complimentary products and use them to promote to your existing customers. In the case of the pool company, they could stock a supply of pool chemicals, high-end pool tools and loungers. Any related product that gives them an excuse to correspond by phone, mail or e-mail on a regular basis.
#2 Affiliate Products - As an affiliate, you refer people to an existing business for a commission. You don't need to stock product or pay any money up front. If your business is online, affiliate programs run rampant and all you need to do to find a complimentary one is to visit affiliate networks like Commission Junction or ClickBank. Otherwise, if your business is offline or local you can strike deals with non-competitive but complimentary companies and arrange a commission to be paid if a referring customer makes a purchase. A good offline example would be a hairdresser and a massage therapist.
#3 Joint Venture Products - This type of product can be created in tandem with another company or person and promoted by all of the participating partners. Joint Ventures can run the gamut from reciprocal marketing efforts to full scale product manufacturing so the opportunities are endless. An example would be a framing shop working with a photographer or artist to sell the finished framed product.
#4 Referrals - If you don't want to add a backend product line but still want the opportunity to contact your existing customers on a regular basis, consider a full scale referral program. A laser eye center that I know offers $200 to every previous customer that refers a new patient that then has the procedure. Not only does it give them an ongoing reason to contact their past patients via mail and e-mail, it works and they've created a nice little outside sales force.
#5 Information Products -Information products are a fantastic way to add a backend with very little expense and you don't have to charge for them. Information products can take the form of anything from an e-book to a newsletter to audio or video. One realtor I know stays in touch with and asks for referrals through an ongoing e-newsletter that keeps you posted as to all the homes on the market and all the recent sales in your neighborhood as well as a calendar of upcoming entertainment and activities. Because she publishes consistently, she stays at the top of her past customers mind and hers is the most common "for sale sign" you see in our area.
Creating a backend to your marketing efforts doesn't have to take a tremendous amount of time, money or resources but done properly and consistently can have the power to drive repeat and referral business into the stratosphere ... not to mention let you beat the pants off the competition.
