The secret to a truly successful business lies within a keen
understanding of the needs and desires of the market - and it is
ultimately individual people who constitute that market. By connecting
to those who want the products and services offered and communicating
consumer benefits to them, businesses gain new customers and clients.
But the problem faced by many entrepreneurs is that they either fail to
define their potential customers or they lack the skills, resources, and
strategies necessary to forge valuable relationships with them.
Promotion is essential, and a focused and effective marketing plan to promote one's business can easily double the customer base within four weeks. By following a few tips and engaging in some time-tested initiatives, the process can be both easy and lucrative.
Here are ten tried and tested methods for adding new customers in record time...
1) Build a Loyalty Ladder to Create "Raving Fans"
Loyal customers are ideal customers. Those who sometimes refer others to the business are even more valuable. But the most prized clients and customers of all are those who become so energized about the level of service they receive that they cannot stop telling others about it. These "raving fans" are a tremendous source of new customers. If a business makes a concerted effort to identify loyal customers and then offer them such a high level of service that they become cheerleaders for the business, the investment pays off many times over by expanding the customer base with premium customers.
When others witness this kind of VIP treatment they will likewise become inspired to rave about the business in order to enjoy the exclusive benefits of this preferred customer relationship.
2) Identify a Target Market for Direct Mail
Direct mail campaigns work best for reaching a consumer demographic that is defined and identified as a focus group. Unlike broad methods of advertising that hit everyone within a given geographic area, direct mail is intended to arrive at the doorstep of those consumers who are already known to be great candidates for products and services. To clarify the demographic, it may be helpful to know, for example, basic information about the recipients such as their age, gender, income level, buying habits, and place of residence.
3) Weed Out Bad Clients and Cater to the Best
Contrary to popular belief, it is sometimes advantageous to lose customers if the business owner deliberately orchestrates the loss. Prioritizing the kinds of customers a business prefers to have makes it possible to eliminate those who create unnecessary headaches and detract from better serving other, more valuable customers. And it also allows a company to focus on attracting those desirable customers who represent the bulk of the business and contribute most to the profits.
Losing those who are a liability is actually an asset that can help increase the number of customers in the profitable database.
Identify who the best customers are and treat them particularly well and invest extra energy in satisfying their needs while extending service above and beyond the call of duty. They form the core of the customer base, and by cultivating them it is possible to create more customers who are similarly extraordinary, loyal, and lucrative.
Birds of a feather flock together and the needs of the best customers will always be the same as the needs of the best potential customers the organization is trying to attract.
4) Create Strategic Business Alliances
By partnering with other businesses with which there is a common customer demographic but no actual direct competition, a company can expand its customer base quickly and easily. Those customers who trust other businesses and have proven their loyalty to them will be inclined to follow their recommendations or perceived endorsements of an alliance partner - which is why corporate sponsorships of major events like auto races and concerts are so common.
Locate businesses that share the same philosophy, style, and corporate culture or personality. By choosing good alliances it is possible to build all sorts of creative campaigns to increase the customer base.
Create a "win-win-win" situation for your business, their business and for shared clientele.
5) Use Radio, TV, and Newspaper Advertising
Getting the word out through mass media is often the only thing necessary to vastly increase the number of customers, but many businesses devalue this kind of effort because they are not willing to pay for advertising or they don't understand how it can help.
For those businesses that are on a tight budget, classified ads in local newspapers are an easy way to enter the local ad market. Another affordable but effective tactic is to use press releases.
6) Train and Support Employees to Improve their Skills
Valued employees - are ones that business owners invest in to help them further their careers and skills by developing a sense of ownership and responsibility that can boost a business' customer base dramatically. Employees come in contact with people every day, both inside the place of business and elsewhere. Someone might be a potential customer because they walk through the door, but it may take a certain level of professional skills to convert them into paying customers. By helping that employee learn the skills needed to promote the business to those contacts, it is possible to capture new customers.
7) Improve the Conversion Rate for Leads and Contacts
Keeping tabs on leads or sending contacts costly mailings can be a drain, not an asset. As leads and contacts are made, they need to be converted as soon as possible into customers. Otherwise they can simply become a nuisance and a labor-intensive list of names. Once someone becomes a lukewarm lead, it is important to warm them up so that they become a hot prospect and then a loyal customer.
If the current conversion rate is 20 percent for every 100 contacts or leads, boosting it to 30 percent represents a 50 percent increase in customers. Then, systematise your conversion strategies so that once a new contact enters the leads database, they are automatically cultivated and nurtured to become a paying client.
8) Convert a Single Customer into Multiple Customers
One of the easiest ways to increase the number of customers is to concentrate on those already in the database. This kind of conversion is often just as lucrative - but far less expensive - than trying to drum up business from cold-calling those who have never stepped foot in the store.
9) Go Online and Drive Traffic to the Brick and Mortar Location
Create a website and it will act as a customer magnet that never sleeps and a business presence that extends around the entire world almost overhead-free. Give site visitors something valuable in exchange for them providing more information about themselves. But keep it simple so visitors are not intimidated or tired out by the process.
Attract 10,000 visitors to the site per month and convert only one percent of them and that will add up to more than 1,000 new customers per year. Convert 10 percent and 1,000 new customers will show up within the first four weeks - an astonishing result that is entirely plausible and achievable.
10) Increase Visible Exposure
Brand recognition is powerful, and we live in a visual world of shapes and colors that are constantly competing for our attention. Capitalize on visible exposure at every possible opportunity and it will soon increase the customer base while strengthening the brand. Put a business logo and tagline on shopping bags, give away beverage coasters, key chains, and coffee mugs. Look for every chance to come out from the shadows and be seen, because the more a business is seen by potential clients, the greater is the chance for that business to double its customer base in a short period of time.
Once a business manages to recruit customers, it is important to maintain consistency through ongoing marketing campaigns that strengthen the relationship, expand upon it, and further respond to the wants and needs of those customers. The investment necessary to find, identify, and attract a new customer is much greater than the energy and effort that is required to retain an existing customer who will reward the business with loyalty, referrals, and greater profits over multiple transactions.
Neglecting to follow through and preserve "top-of-the-mind awareness" once it is accomplished is a common mistake made by business owners, and it is a costly one, because those customers will be lost to competitors. Once a customer shifts loyalties it is twice as hard to win them back.
So it is imperative that the end of the initial four-week strategy be viewed as the beginning of a lifelong relationship.
Promotion is essential, and a focused and effective marketing plan to promote one's business can easily double the customer base within four weeks. By following a few tips and engaging in some time-tested initiatives, the process can be both easy and lucrative.
Here are ten tried and tested methods for adding new customers in record time...
1) Build a Loyalty Ladder to Create "Raving Fans"
Loyal customers are ideal customers. Those who sometimes refer others to the business are even more valuable. But the most prized clients and customers of all are those who become so energized about the level of service they receive that they cannot stop telling others about it. These "raving fans" are a tremendous source of new customers. If a business makes a concerted effort to identify loyal customers and then offer them such a high level of service that they become cheerleaders for the business, the investment pays off many times over by expanding the customer base with premium customers.
When others witness this kind of VIP treatment they will likewise become inspired to rave about the business in order to enjoy the exclusive benefits of this preferred customer relationship.
2) Identify a Target Market for Direct Mail
Direct mail campaigns work best for reaching a consumer demographic that is defined and identified as a focus group. Unlike broad methods of advertising that hit everyone within a given geographic area, direct mail is intended to arrive at the doorstep of those consumers who are already known to be great candidates for products and services. To clarify the demographic, it may be helpful to know, for example, basic information about the recipients such as their age, gender, income level, buying habits, and place of residence.
3) Weed Out Bad Clients and Cater to the Best
Contrary to popular belief, it is sometimes advantageous to lose customers if the business owner deliberately orchestrates the loss. Prioritizing the kinds of customers a business prefers to have makes it possible to eliminate those who create unnecessary headaches and detract from better serving other, more valuable customers. And it also allows a company to focus on attracting those desirable customers who represent the bulk of the business and contribute most to the profits.
Losing those who are a liability is actually an asset that can help increase the number of customers in the profitable database.
Identify who the best customers are and treat them particularly well and invest extra energy in satisfying their needs while extending service above and beyond the call of duty. They form the core of the customer base, and by cultivating them it is possible to create more customers who are similarly extraordinary, loyal, and lucrative.
Birds of a feather flock together and the needs of the best customers will always be the same as the needs of the best potential customers the organization is trying to attract.
4) Create Strategic Business Alliances
By partnering with other businesses with which there is a common customer demographic but no actual direct competition, a company can expand its customer base quickly and easily. Those customers who trust other businesses and have proven their loyalty to them will be inclined to follow their recommendations or perceived endorsements of an alliance partner - which is why corporate sponsorships of major events like auto races and concerts are so common.
Locate businesses that share the same philosophy, style, and corporate culture or personality. By choosing good alliances it is possible to build all sorts of creative campaigns to increase the customer base.
Create a "win-win-win" situation for your business, their business and for shared clientele.
5) Use Radio, TV, and Newspaper Advertising
Getting the word out through mass media is often the only thing necessary to vastly increase the number of customers, but many businesses devalue this kind of effort because they are not willing to pay for advertising or they don't understand how it can help.
For those businesses that are on a tight budget, classified ads in local newspapers are an easy way to enter the local ad market. Another affordable but effective tactic is to use press releases.
6) Train and Support Employees to Improve their Skills
Valued employees - are ones that business owners invest in to help them further their careers and skills by developing a sense of ownership and responsibility that can boost a business' customer base dramatically. Employees come in contact with people every day, both inside the place of business and elsewhere. Someone might be a potential customer because they walk through the door, but it may take a certain level of professional skills to convert them into paying customers. By helping that employee learn the skills needed to promote the business to those contacts, it is possible to capture new customers.
7) Improve the Conversion Rate for Leads and Contacts
Keeping tabs on leads or sending contacts costly mailings can be a drain, not an asset. As leads and contacts are made, they need to be converted as soon as possible into customers. Otherwise they can simply become a nuisance and a labor-intensive list of names. Once someone becomes a lukewarm lead, it is important to warm them up so that they become a hot prospect and then a loyal customer.
If the current conversion rate is 20 percent for every 100 contacts or leads, boosting it to 30 percent represents a 50 percent increase in customers. Then, systematise your conversion strategies so that once a new contact enters the leads database, they are automatically cultivated and nurtured to become a paying client.
8) Convert a Single Customer into Multiple Customers
One of the easiest ways to increase the number of customers is to concentrate on those already in the database. This kind of conversion is often just as lucrative - but far less expensive - than trying to drum up business from cold-calling those who have never stepped foot in the store.
9) Go Online and Drive Traffic to the Brick and Mortar Location
Create a website and it will act as a customer magnet that never sleeps and a business presence that extends around the entire world almost overhead-free. Give site visitors something valuable in exchange for them providing more information about themselves. But keep it simple so visitors are not intimidated or tired out by the process.
Attract 10,000 visitors to the site per month and convert only one percent of them and that will add up to more than 1,000 new customers per year. Convert 10 percent and 1,000 new customers will show up within the first four weeks - an astonishing result that is entirely plausible and achievable.
10) Increase Visible Exposure
Brand recognition is powerful, and we live in a visual world of shapes and colors that are constantly competing for our attention. Capitalize on visible exposure at every possible opportunity and it will soon increase the customer base while strengthening the brand. Put a business logo and tagline on shopping bags, give away beverage coasters, key chains, and coffee mugs. Look for every chance to come out from the shadows and be seen, because the more a business is seen by potential clients, the greater is the chance for that business to double its customer base in a short period of time.
Once a business manages to recruit customers, it is important to maintain consistency through ongoing marketing campaigns that strengthen the relationship, expand upon it, and further respond to the wants and needs of those customers. The investment necessary to find, identify, and attract a new customer is much greater than the energy and effort that is required to retain an existing customer who will reward the business with loyalty, referrals, and greater profits over multiple transactions.
Neglecting to follow through and preserve "top-of-the-mind awareness" once it is accomplished is a common mistake made by business owners, and it is a costly one, because those customers will be lost to competitors. Once a customer shifts loyalties it is twice as hard to win them back.
So it is imperative that the end of the initial four-week strategy be viewed as the beginning of a lifelong relationship.
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