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Having a great idea is only half the battle when it comes to developing and growing a successful business. The other part of the equation is finding and acquiring new customers, which many businesses find quite challenging. Read on to find some tried-and-tested techniques designed to make finding and acquiring new customers a little easier.
Keep following up
One of the best ways to acquire and maintain customers is to keep in touch with your existing customers. You’ll make them feel valued and through careful monitoring and follow-up, will be able to identify issues in your processes that can be tweaked or improved.
The key points to remember here are that you must always remain polite and humble, don’t be overzealous in requesting contact, and if a customer isn’t responding well to you, just let them be. Companies that are arrogant and pushy will rarely leave a positive impression on their customers.
Ask for Referrals
Referrals from other businesses are credible, efficient and effective ways to gain customers with very little expense or effort. Customers that have been referred come to you with high expectations for your business, meaning that you will have to spend less time and money convincing them of your business’s value.
When reaching out to previous customers for a follow-up be sure to suggest they refer your services onward. You can even offer deals and discounts to encourage word-of-mouth referrals; money lost through discounts will usually be covered by the saving in advertising.
Ask for Reviews
When considering using the services of a new company, many people will first check out its online reviews. Encouraging existing customers to leave positive reviews on your Google and your social media platforms is a great way to build a positive reputation for your business.
These days there are actually so many automated systems available that will send your customers ‘please review’ invitations where they only need to click a link and enter their thoughts or a rating, taking no more than a few seconds. Don’t worry too much about bad reviews either – they will happen, and the best thing you can do is reply politely, addressing your customer’s concerns. Treat them as a learning experience and look for ways to improve, but most importantly never start arguing with customers on review platforms. Bad reviews are a great way to showcase how empathetic and customer-driven your business is.
Promote Your Business Online
The age of phone books and company directories is long since dead. Nowadays, most service providers are found through online searches and referrals. That’s why having a strong online presence is essential for any modern business.
Promote your business online whenever possible through careful usage of search engine optimization (optimizing your web-page content for search queries), social media postings, and customer reviews and referrals. Be sure to check your social media regularly as it is fast becoming the first point-of-contact for many businesses and their clients. Be sure to never force your customers to use a communication method they don’t want to.
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