One of the biggest challenges for small business owners is
finding a fast, effective way to bring in new customers.
That’s because most owners must wear several hats – bookkeeper,
technical support representative, human resources manager and
marketer. And, of course, owners must provide quality goods or
services. Finding the time to market can be especially difficult
if you are a one- or two-person operation.
The reality is that spending the time to market is essential to
maintaining or growing a business. It helps you avoid one of the
biggest pitfalls in small business: relying on a big client or
two for the lion’s share of your company’s revenue.
Two things often happen in this scenario. First, business tend
to provide preferential treatment to the older, bigger client
rather than to smaller, new client, which may cost some business.
Secondly, businesses find themselves in a tenuous position by
putting most of their eggs in one basket. If the primary client
leaves, the company could be economically devastated.
A healthy company always has new clients coming in the door as
well as happy existing clients. You can rely on word of mouth
to get those new clients on board, but usually it’s not enough.
Here are three tips to help you stay on top of marketing efforts.
Get organized.
Hire someone to create a database of that huge stack of business
cards that you’ve been keeping in your top desk drawer. Make
sure it’s a database you can easily use for emails or mailings –
like your Microsoft Outlook contacts or ACT! Having all your
potential customers at your fingertips is money well spent.
Once you have all your contacts input, you can send targeted e-
mails or letters to your potential clients. Make the messages
short and sweet, as well as informative. People look forward to
getting valuable information, so give it to them. Follow up with
a phone call to find out if the information was helpful and if
your company can provide goods or services.
Even the busiest entrepreneur can send 20 e-mails each month and
follow up with them. Schedule the time on your calendar to do
it.
Create an “elevator pitch.”
Try to pare down your company’s products and services to a
sentence or two. Start by writing down what you do and then
edit. This is a great exercise, especially if you offer a wide
variety of goods and services, to help you clarify your top
priorities.
Most people want to try to throw in everything they do. For
example, if you’re a landscape designer, you may be tempted to
talk about turf, bedding plants and terracing. Instead, tell
people “I’m a landscape designer. I help people create their
own backyard oasis.”
If at all possible, get specific. If you are a graphic designer,
be sure to add your specialties. Don’t just say, “I’m a graphic
designer.” Do say, “I’m a graphic designer specializing in e-
newsletters and interactive web sites.”
Cultivate your current clients.
It’s much easier and cost-effective to sell an existing customer
additional services than to go out looking for new ones. That’s
what makes the pitfall of having one big client so insidious –
the smaller clients that you are tempted to shove to the side may
actually bring in more business than your current big client if
you give them the same stellar products and services.
Schedule monthly meetings with your clients to find out how you
are doing and to learn what they see on the horizon for their
own business. Show them how you can help fill their goals and
dreams. You’ll be amazed at how much a couple of hours of your
time will pay off.
Contact is the most important element of marketing. If you don’t
have time to do anything else, make sure you contact at least 10-
20 potential or current clients each month. Doing so will help
keep that business coming in and your company healthy.
|
