At the beginning of the year, many entrepreneurs wonder how they can attract more new customers, and which acquisition strategies are best suited for this. At the same time, sales are only going up, which is good. But then, they go downhill again and then the cycle starts all over again.
Growth is seldom achieved in this ups and downs in sales. A decisive reason is that potential customers are only approached infrequently. There is no sales funnel and no systematic way of how interested parties are “picked up” and gradually convinced.
Understandably, you have enough to do with the preparation of offers or the successful handling of customer inquiries. But this is where it starts if you want to achieve stable sales growth because if you don’t get enough leads now, you can’t have sales pitches as persuasion takes time.
Therefore, here are 7 tips to help you gain more new customers.
Find the “bright spot”
In their book “Switch – How to change things when change is hard”, Chip & Dan Heath describe the phenomenon of the bright spot.
The Bright Spot is a lever that makes things easier and much relieved. Think of a car that got stuck in the sand. If you just hit the gas, nothing will happen. However, if you slide a plank under the rear wheels, things are different; you suddenly move forward. Such “ramps” also exist for customer acquisition by telephone.
Here’s an example:
- Determine how many cold calls you or your team make to potential customers.
- Set the dates for it.
- Enter them on your or your employees’ calendar.
- Have a suitable contact person researched in advance. Either from an employee or a freelancer to support you.
Setting a cold call strategy helps you lower some of the hurdles that cold calling over the phone presents. Remember, the more preparation there is in the best time to phone, the fewer conversations with customers. You don’t have to talk so much before bringing the customers to your side.
Offer strategy talks
Many customers want to buy but are unsure. This may keep you wondering:
- Does this solution fit our industry?
- Can we quickly meet our customers’ needs?
- How can I get customers to believe me?
And it is precisely for such cases that a strategy discussion is ideal. Promote it on your website. Point this out in strategic places, for example in your newsletter.
Customers want to know who they are dealing with and the more “transparent” you are in your performance and expertise, the better for you. A strategy discussion is pure social proof.
Attend high-quality events
These are usually events that cost something. These can be seminars that your customers attend, and they could also be recruiting events. These events may include associations or company get-togethers in many industries.
It is crucial to set a certain number of participations as a goal and to enter it in the calendar. The more high-profile your clientele, the more high-profile the events you attend should be because that is where “like-minded people” meet. And it’s much easier to make contact naturally.
Use a sales funnel
A sales funnel is a mapped out way to turn prospects into customers. You use it to systematize your new customer acquisition. The easiest way is with a newsletter.
Create an email campaign that is specifically tailored to your ideal target customers, then do the follow up by phone. The more complex services are, the more skeptical customers are. A campaign tailored to your offer can reduce this skepticism. You can also have webinars where you explain your services better to the customers.
Using recommendations the smart way
Satisfied customers are happy to give you recommendations; at least, most of them. The key is to be as specific as possible when you ask about it.
Research in advance who your customer knows. You can also use social media for your research. After that, you can make a list of the people you would like to meet.
In this case, the natural skepticism of corporate customers is reduced because nothing is better than a recommendation from someone who is satisfied.
Write articles
You do not just write any article or publish them anywhere but precisely in the online or print magazines that your customers read.
Getting an article off the ground isn’t difficult. If necessary, you can do this by making some payments. Once published, send the article to potential customers by email or post.
It still brings a significant increase in trust, depending on the media in which you are published and you get free advertising on top of that.
Make use of print
This approach has proven itself for in many businesses. You can have your own books or brochures printed and made available for your prospective customers to access.
The whole thing in an appealing form with a personal cover letter to specific companies and decision-makers that you want to win as a customer. In this way, you automatically stand out in the crowd of providers. In addition, many customers prefer print advertising because they may already be too used to receiving so many emails.
Conclusively, this is not an exhaustive list of all the strategies that you can use to attract more new customers but these work reliably. The key is to start with one. And if it works successfully, take on the next one.