~by Haley Lynn Gray~
I think that just about every business needs more clients. I know mine does, and I’m sure that yours does too if you’re a business owner. Think about where your clients are coming from, and work the most profitable ones. I’m going to make the possibly erroneous assumption here that you’re already providing a great product or service.
Getting More Clients
- You need to work your network. Ask family, friends, contacts on Linked in, and all of your social media. Don’t just broadcast the request. You need to talk to each person one on one, or email them a custom email, asking them for help with referrals.
- Go to your current clients and ask them if they know of anyone who might use your service or products.
- Write a thank you note to your past and current clients to thank them for doing business with you. Be sure to ask them for a referral. You should make sure your contact information is somewhere either on the envelope or on the back of the card, but don’t put a business card into the envelope. Your thank you note will have much more impact if you send it very soon after you’ve provided a service.
- Use social media to your advantage. Figure out what social media site(s) you want to use, and focus on that. Most potential clients are going to Google you. They want to see what the online reviews say.
- Focus on building an email list. You can use your current customers’ email addresses to start the list. Then send regular communication. Think that this doesn’t apply to you? Well, how much more likely are you to go get your oil changed if you get reminded to do it every so often? How about spring cleaning? How about if we talk about spring cleaning, and give you tips to do it, then ask you if you’d like to schedule to have us come in and perform those services? I think that almost any business can benefit from this. If you’re not great at doing it yourself, hire a Virtual Assistant (VA) who can do it for you on a consistent, regular basis. You want to deliver quality content in a predictable manner that will make people want to open your next email.
- Put together a mobile-friendly website with all of the pertinent information on it, including how to contact you. If you are in an industry where photos are appropriate, then post pictures. I think that pictures or videos are priceless.
- After you’ve sold your product or service, check to make sure that each client is satisfied, and do what it takes to get them there if they aren’t.
- Focus on delivering a consistent experience every time. Your clients want to know what to expect, and know that they’re going to get consistently good results. If you put processes and procedures in place to ensure that they always get the experience they are expecting, they will be much more likely to refer you to friends.
- Don’t leave without at least trying to set up the next appointment or next sale. If you clean houses, then set up the next appointment before you leave. If work on cars, then go ahead and set up the next service appointment, or set up a reminder system, so that people don’t use your product or service once, then forget about you. You want to stay in the front of your clients’ minds.
- Figure out where your ideal client spends time, what they do, and how they live. Then put yourself in their path. In home care, we get most of our referrals from certain types of sources, so we approach those sources regularly. I’ve also found certain groups on the internet where my target audience hangs out, so I spend a lot of time there.
If you can follow these steps, you’ll add clients quickly. I will add one bonus though, which is probably the most important one of all:
Answer your phone and emails; return calls and reply to emails super quickly! You can get all the clients in the world calling you, but if you don’t answer your phone, they are worthless. Following through with the sale is critical to getting it!
Meet the Author: Haley Lynn Gray
Haley works with female entrepreneurs. The only problem? Many want their business to grow so that they can make money to pay the bills, send the kids to dance lessons, and be able to spend quality time with the kids.
Haley works with her clients to create a strategy plan for their business – so that they can make enough money to spend that quality time with their family, pay for their children’s lessons, pay bills, and not worry about where the next client is coming from.
Haley is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Leadership Girl. She offers Business Coaching, Business Plan Development and Strategy Sessions for entrepreneurs. Whether you want to get a new business off the ground, or expand an existing business, Haley can assist you.
Connect with Haley:
- Work with Haley: https://leadershipgirl.com/work-with-haley/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Leadershipgirl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haleygray
