Every business needs to constantly attract new customers in order to grow. It’s simply not enough to rely on existing clients, since they may easily choose another supplier, which means your income will decrease. However, gaining new clients is much more difficult than some people think. Otherwise, every single company would be able to grow, which is not the case. So, if you’re struggling with widening the scope of your clients, take a look at the following tips, which have been tested by numerous businesspeople and entrepreneurs.
Find your perfect client
To begin with, you need to know what kind of clients you’re looking for. Avoid making broad target market statements, since it highly unlikely that you can cater to all women or men, for example. If you overstate you market, you won’t be able to create successful targeted strategies for attracting clients. Next, you should identify where your perfect clients live, i.e. where you can find them. They could be reached through media, online, offline, through mail, etc. That doesn’t mean that you should focus all your energy on one channel. Even though online environment is great for presenting your business, you should still attend conferences and conventions, where you can meet many prospective clients.
Present yourself as someone who is the answer
Before clients become loyal, they first need to turn to you in search of a solution to their problem. So, you need to provide value and present yourself as someone who truly understands the problem they’re trying to solve. Needless to say, to be able to do this, you need to know your business inside and out. Logically, people tend to seek assistance from those who are knowledgeable about the matter. In order to position yourself as authority in the field, you need to think about creating blog posts, organizing webinars and networking with people. That’s the only way to convert followers and prospective clients into paying customers.
Create partnerships
You also need to consider creating partnerships with enterprises that offer complementary services. This will create synergy which can be very efficient in helping you develop your business. Such relationships also improve brand awareness and the increasingly important financial customer experience. Your client base can increase a lot and the human relationships you build will boost the most efficient way of advertising your products or services, i.e. the word-of-mouth.
Pay attention to online ratings and review sites
You want people to talk about your business, because people are reluctant to trust someone they’ve never heard of. That’s why they rely on recommendations, online ratings and review sites before spending money. So, ensure that you monitor those sites and respond to any complaints courteously and promptly. Also, put the links to positive reviews on your website. Finally, post signage in your store, office, restaurant, or other location encouraging customers to add their perspectives. Potential clients are more likely to give your business a try if they see other people praising it.
Offer discounts and promotions
One of the potentially lucrative moves you can make is to offer introductory discounts or have specials such as buy-one-get-one-free campaigns. It’s bargains like these that attract new customers. What’s important is to track their purchases and the offers they redeemed, so that you can better target the clients in the future.
Community events
Although digital marketing is now in everyone’s focus, you shouldn’t neglect seemingly irrelevant opportunities to attract new clients. One such thing is a local event, organized by a charity. If there are no such events, you can organize one. For example, you can sponsor a fun run, organize a fundraising event or provide equipment for your local sports team. These endeavors will help you raise your profile and, hopefully, attract new clients.
Update your website
As we’ve already established, the primary way clients find new businesses is through online searches. That’s why your website needs to be set up in a way that customers can find you. Pay attention to search engine marketing and SEO tactics and techniques and make your site mobile-friendly if you haven’t done it already. Special attention should be paid to design, since too many graphics can slow your site’s load speed, which discourages people from using it. Updating and revamping your website is something best left to professionals.
These tips are just the beginning of a long, but essential process of finding new customers. Needless to say, it’s a never-ending process, which requires your constant and full attention. It’s all about choosing the right strategies and executing them in an appropriate way. The most important thing, however, is to start now if you want to be able to achieve your results in a foreseeable future. Finally, you shouldn’t be afraid of failure. Some things you do will work, while others won’t. Learn from your mistakes and adapt future strategies to avoid repeating the same mistakes and you’ll stand great chances of boosting your client base.
