How to Increase Revenue from Existing Customers | 15 Best Tips from a Business Lawyer

Want to know how to increase revenue from existing customers? I’m sharing all the best tips from my experience working with all types of businesses, large and small.

So you have now had a few or maybe many great customers buying your products or services, but if you’re anything like me, you want to maximise your earnings, and one of the best ways to do that is to utilise your existing customers. As a lawyer myself who drafts contracts for entrepreneurs like you with all kinds of revenue-generating strategies, I am telling you exactly how to increase revenue from existing customers based on what I’ve learned from my clients, including large and small businesses.

You will learn everything you need to know about how to increase revenue from existing customers, from unique ways to increase sales to how to increase your client base.

After learning all about how to increase revenue from existing customers, you’ll be doubling your earnings in no time!

This post is all about how to increase revenue from existing customers to maximise your income potential.

Best Tips on How to Increase Revenue from Existing Customers

Tried-and-true and unique ways to increase sales and revenue from existing customers

1. Customer service and support

I’m going to have to start with customer service and support. No matter how great the service or product your offer is, if your customer service is crap, your existing customers will not be coming back, and they are sure not going to refer any new customers to you. 

So, first of all, think about how you can create a great experience for your customers from the moment they purchase your service or product to the end. How can you make your existing customers feel more valued?

This may seem obvious, but it also seems to be the one thing that most businesses don’t get right: They think too much about themselves. You have to think about your customers’ needs and wants. Be selfless to earn more.

2. Reward loyalty

That brings me to my next tip on how to increase revenue from existing customers: reward loyalty. Offer loyalty programs, exclusive offers, or special discounts to returning customers. That will incentivise them to keep coming back for more.

3. Discounts and allowances

Speaking of discounts, another great way to increase revenue. You know businesses make insane revenue jumps on Black Friday. People just love a good deal or just feel that they did get a good deal because they did not pay the full price.

So, offer temporary discounts and allowances to your existing customers or anyone who is on your email list. Make the time limit short so that it creates a sense of urgency to buy your product or service now.

4. Add service offerings

Maybe this one comes before the second tip if you’re just starting out, but another thing you can or maybe should be doing is adding service offerings to your existing services or products.

For example, if you offer marketing services for Facebook ads, you might want to add LinkedIn ad services. My digital marketing agreement contains a whole list of possible digital marketing services you could provide to your existing customers, which they might also like to purchase from you. The more options you give your customers, the more they may buy from you, especially if they already have had great experiences with your other services. That’s how to increase revenue from existing customers.

5. Upsell

Another way to increase revenue is to upsell, which means offering additional products or services that complement the service or product your existing customer is about to purchase or has already purchased. 

For example, if you are a photographer, you could upsell by offering more time than included in your basic package, additional photos, or having photos printed on a larger canvas or a coffee cup. 

That is why I have photographers who purchase my photography agreement template add a price list to the contract so that clients (1) know what is and what is not included in the standard package but also (2) are enticed to purchase more of the photographer’s services that they otherwise would not know were possible or available. 

Identify opportunities for upselling in your service or product line. What upgrades or add-ons could you offer your existing customers? 

6. Bundle

Another great option to increase revenue is to create packages of related products or services at a (slightly) cheaper price than it would be to buy them all separately. 

Suppose a customer is already considering buying multiple products or services. In that case, this is what will convince the buyer to buy them all instead of just one product or service and forgetting about the others. 

7. Increase your prices

This tip on how to increase revenue from existing customers is for those who have maxed out the time they can spend. If you already have a great customer base and your problem is that you do not have enough time for new clients but want to make more money, simply increase your prices.

It’s a simple game of supply and demand, and you’re dealing with the problem of more demand (more customers than you can handle) than supply (your time). Do not be scared of a customer walking away because it became too expensive for them, but also don’t immediately raise your prices too high. Hone your pricing strategy based on your customers, which brings me to my next tip.

8. Know your target audience and identify your customers

I can give you all these practical tips on how to increase revenue from existing customers, but you’ll just be shooting in the dark with random strategies that may or may not work or even hurt your business and decrease income if you do not know who your customer is. 

The first thing you really need to do is understand the demographics and behaviours of your existing customers and target audience, which will ultimately enable you to create offerings and communicate with them in a way that resonates with them.

There are several ways in which you can better understand your existing customers:

• Survey customers properly: Don’t just send out a random email asking for 10 minutes of your customers’ time to give you feedback. While you should definitely do that, you should also connect with customers personally to get the in-depth feedback you need.

• Research: You should always be researching your market, competitors, and industry developments. Many entrepreneurs do this when they're just starting a business but then slack off when they've been running for a while. That’s how businesses grow stale, and customers move on to the more dynamic competitor. 

• Ask about your competitors: Sometimes, it can be hard to figure out what your competitors are doing that works and what makes clients choose you over your competitors. So, just be bold and ask your customers when asking them for feedback about your competitors. This helps you identify the pain points in your own business and the reasons why your customers love you, which you could build upon to see new opportunities for differentiation.

9. Connect with your customers

If you work with customers on a project basis or sell products (not on a subscription basis), your existing customers can easily forget you if they don’t hear from you again.

Thus, if you want to know how to increase revenue from existing customers, you must stay connected with your customers. 

That does not mean you have to send them an annoying newsletter every week that they will unsubscribe from after week 2. 

Actually, the best email strategy that has worked for me is to only send an email when I actually have something valuable to say or give. That is basically once every two months (by the way, you can subscribe to my newsletter and get access to my library of free resources on this page). 

However, you can also use effective marketing strategies to stay connected with your customers, like through social media or hosting your own podcast.

That way, you stay top of mind, and your customers will come straight to you when they need more of your services or products. Connection and communication are crucial to improve customer retention.

10. Share quality content that provides value

I want to emphasise that it’s not just about screaming your brand from the rooftops and spamming your customers through emails and social media about new deals. 

Truly, the best tip I can give you on how to increase revenue from existing customers sustainably is to share quality content with them. 

That does not mean you have to constantly share something educational. Valuable content can also be entertaining, like behind-the-scenes actions, or inspirational, like a quote from someone you admire. This kind of quality content makes your customers feel like they know you, resulting in them feeling more connected and loyal to you.

11. Listen to customers to improve your offerings

After doing all the research you need to understand your customers, create valuable connections to build customer loyalty and get direct feedback, the next thing to do is actually listen to them.

Based on your research and communication with your customers, you should have a pretty good idea of what they want that you don’t offer yet. 

Now, it’s time to reiterate to show them that you are listening to them.

Send out an email or create a reel on Instagram stating what you think your customers want and asking them to confirm it.

This truly gives the customers the feeling that you value their opinions, which makes them even more excited and motivated to actually buy your new or improved product or service.

This is also a great way to determine your goals for your business. You’ll know exactly what to focus on next to increase revenue and grow your business.

12. Address customer needs (before they even know what they need)

If you already have existing customers that you work on a long-term basis with, this next tip on how to increase revenue from existing customers is for you.

Anticipate and address your customers’ needs before they even realise they need them. 

For example, you could be providing social media management services to a client, but the client is struggling with delivering content for you to use for their social media platforms, or the content is complete crap. You, as the social media expert, can then offer to create UGC and other content for them. You can offer to create all their content for them so that they no longer need to even worry about their social media or, if they don’t have the budget, supplement their content with your content creations. 

Now, you are not only being paid for your social media management services based on the original social media management contract, but you have just closed a content creation contract with your existing customer, skyrocketing your revenue!

13. Get referrals or create an affiliate program

If you have room for new customers, then another great tip on how to increase revenue from existing customers is to get referrals from those customers.

The best way to get referrals is not to just ask them if they have any family members or friends who might be interested in your services. They will forget about that in the next two seconds.

Tell the customers who you know have some connections in your target audience group that you have a referral program from which you think they could benefit. Offer them a percentage or a fixed fee for every new customer they refer to you. That will motivate them to actually get your name out there. You’re creating little sales agents out of your existing customers.

Another option is to run an affiliate program that anyone can sign up for. This is a great option if you sell an online shop, where you can track sales made through your affiliate program. Ensure you don’t lose money, though, with proper affiliate terms and conditions.

14. Built-in automatic price adjustments 

My last two tips on how to increase revenue from existing customers are tools to incorporate into your contracts and apply to service-based businesses.

The first one is built-in rice adjustments for long-term contracts. If you have a service contract that lasts longer than a year, you can include built-in price adjustments, also known as price indexes. These are fixed percentages, usually based on inflation or industry indexes, by which your fee automatically increases each year.

It is best practice to inform your customers well before the (automatic) price increase that the increase is about to happen. Otherwise, it might surprise some of your customers, as they probably don’t remember that clause in your contract.

15. Success fee

This last one is for projects-based services that will have a certain result, and it's not one to use lightly.

A success fee is a tool you can incorporate into your contract, according to which you may get paid an additional fee (usually a percentage of your base fee or a fixed fee) when you achieve a certain result.

However, I would not recommend this to everyone, and only if you’re pretty certain you’ll actually achieve that result. I’ll dedicate a whole blog post to this one.

Contract templates that include my revenue strategy examples

Want a contract for your specific business that includes some of the revenue strategy examples I discussed in this blog post?

Then check out my contract shop, where I sell contracts that not only protect your business and money but are also optimised with pricing models that will get you the most out of your existing customers.

Check out my contract shop on this page!

This post was about how to increase revenue from existing customers to maximise your profits.

Are you a service-based entrepreneur? Then you must read The Complete List of 15 Pricing Models for Services PLUS Guidance on the Perfect Pricing Model for You.

Are you selling digital products in a Stan Store? Read this blog post on the Ultimate Guide to Your Own Stan Terms and Conditions | 5 Must-Haves to Protect Your Money and Digital Products.

Need a contract template that will help you increase revenue but also protect your hard-earned cash? Find the best contract template for your specific niche in my contract shop!