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By Suzanne Foley
Finding new clients can be a difficult process. What are you doing to make your sales and marketing efforts work better for you? Here are some ideas to help you get started:
1.
Do you have a system or a defined process for your sales and marketing activities? If you run a successful business, you probably have a defined process for what to do with a client once they become a client, but what about before that? What is your system for generating leads, identifying qualified prospects and leading them through your sales process until they either buy from you or not?
If you dont use a system, its the equivalent of being blindfolded while playing darts. Youll eventually hit something or someone, but it probably wont be your target and its going to be painful.
2.
How much of your business is from referrals and how much is from cold calling? There is a lot of debate going on right now about what methods work best these days to find new clients. My humble opinion is that there is no single method that is 100% correct or effective. Most businesses must use a combination of methods and strategies for finding new business opportunities. Referrals from existing clients is the best way, of course. It means youve done such a great job of delivering value to an existing client that they felt comfortable referring you to someone they thought could use your product or service. However, most businesses can not exist and grow for the long term on referrals alone. You must use a consistent combination of cold calling, direct mail, networking, emailing, etc. to find new clients.
3.
Are you communicating with your clients on a regular basis? And Im not talking about sending them a monthly invoice with We appreciate your business! printed at the bottom!
How much do you think you could increase your sales if you communicated with your clients consistently every 4 6 weeks? If you dont do it, believe me, your competition is! By sending out a simple email or even U.S.mail, you can remain in your clients minds in a positive way.
The topic doesnt have to be about selling anything to them either. We work with a company that sends feel good letters to their prospects and clients. Around the 4th of July, it might be a letter or poem about the freedom of living in the U.S.A. At Thanksgiving, its usually an essay about gratitude. His clients tell him they look forward to seeing his envelopes because they know it will always be something thoughtful and meaningful. How strong do you think his clients loyalty is?
Implementing these types of systems takes time, focus and energy, but not necessarily a lot of money so theyre perfect for smaller firms or those operating on a shoestring budget. If your company isnt already doing at least two of these, commit to making this happen this week! Youll soon see positive results.
About the Author: Suzanne Foley is a partner in The Surfside Group (
TheSurfsideGroup.com
) which specializes in business development strategies & applied technology consulting.
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