Neither. That's the answer to the question in the title above.
Or to answer it in another way: both. Either answer is valid because they recognise that existing customers and new prospects are equally valuable to your business.
I used to work for a global software company that sold systems costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. It operated a hungry, fired-up sales team that vigorously hunted for new customers. They pursued big businesses, persuaded them to sign contracts, and then handed the customer into the care of the service and support team.
Service and support were not sales people. They did a great job of making systems work and keeping them running because that was their job, but they didn't sell.
What was odd about this set up was that the software company made its money not from sales of new systems, but from ongoing support fees. It's also a recognised fact that it's easier to market to your existing customers.
So if the business made most of its money from customers who chose to renew their support agreements and they were easier to market new products to, why were the sales team so heavily focused on signing up brand new customers? With the result that existing customers sometimes felt like second-class citizens.
It's too easy for businesses to focus on 'new business' while neglecting existing customers. It's not deliberate, it's just the way it happens. A new customer is more exciting than an old one. But which is more valuable?
So I'll come back to the question in the title of this post. Existing customers or new prospects - who's more important? If the answer is 'both' then the next question is obvious: do you treat them both in the same way?
Do you?
