One of the biggest challenges that startups face is knowing how to get new clients on board. For most startups the picture looks a little bleak for the first six months or so. Most entrepreneurs know a basic marketing campaign which they are keen to follow, and they go for it with full effect.
However, this is really only part of the battle. Sales and marketing gives you the revenue you need to continue, but you also need to think about long-term growth. For that, you need a way to draw in more and more clients all the time.
If you are curious as to how this might be achieved, then this article should be of some help. Here are four things to consider which are likely to help you hugely:
Enhance The Power Of Word-Of-Mouth.
One of the biggest tools in any marketer’s toolbox is word-of-mouth. To a certain extent, you can reliably expect your customers to spread the word of your service anyway. This is particularly true if you are offering an exemplary service. But you may as well be making it much more likely that they do this. You can achieve this through a number of tactics. One of the most effective is to offer your clients incentives and freebies. These are the kind of things that customers tend to tell people about. This gives off a particularly good impression of your business, so you may as well give it a go.
Think About First Impressions.
You should, in many respects, treat your business as though it were a person. Think carefully about your branding – what is it really saying about the business? If it were an individual person, what would you think of their personality? Are they someone you would want to spend a lot of time with? Getting this right is a vital part of ensuring your first impressions are spot on. And that is important, because it is a huge deciding factor in whether or not that potential client says yes to whatever you are offering.
Become Obsessed With Them.
To really know how to get your new clients on board, you need to know as much about them as possible. The very first, and most basic step towards this end is carrying out some market research. But don’t be like those businesses which do this and then stop altogether. Market research is merely the springboard. You need to put a lot more effort in than that. In truth, you need to become like Sabri Suby and become obsessed with the client. This is the only way that you can be sure of learning how to best pull them in.
Look To Your Competition.
While you don’t want to spend your whole time thinking about the competition, it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on them. You can usually learn a great deal this way – as much from their mistakes as anything else. Catch them where they go wrong, and move in swiftly to fill the gap they have left. This will bode well for you in the future.
