If you’ve got products or services that are consumable, repeatable, and not just a one-time shot, you should set up regular contact strategies with your customer database, whether it’s monthly or quarterly or weekly. You need to test that.

Let’s say you have a service that your customers should replace every month or they should take advantage of it every month. You can send out a letter or a newsletter every month or quarter where you tell them how important they are to you and you can set them up as a preferred customer or preferred client. You can use Facebook and Twitter as well.

Let them know what’s going on in the industry.

Give them some practical tips that can make their lives easier.

Make them a special offer, a special price or a combination that’s not available to brand-new customers.

You can be the very first one to approach them about new products or services that you have and reserve it for them first if they’ll call, come in or send in an order form.

If you continually work that customer by communicating with them, you can stimulate more orders.

How many can you stimulate? Every situation is different. You have to test it. By regularly working your customer base, you can pull 20-300% additional business. This has been said over and over again, but people are silently begging to be acknowledged, informed, given advance opportunities, and led to action.

It doesn’t matter what business you’re in. This concept works well everywhere.

In retail, a letter is great. If you have a handful of really expensive clients, give them a call. Send out a Mail-Gram or a mock Mail-Gram. People use CD’s, DVDs, Brownies. A simple card. Or a gift.

The point is – follow-up and test different versions against your main version and you’ll find out what works best.