This past weekend I received a disturbing message from a
dear friend. His business wasn't generating all the income
he needed. He's exhausted all savings, started depleting
credit card reserves and badly needed money to pay this
month's mortgage... Ouch! I wish I knew sooner...
Whether it's pride or just human nature that keeps
professionals from asking for help sooner, it's just plain
silly to keep "toughing it out" when there are so many
strategies for generating new business fast. You see, there
is really no shortage of new business; there is only a
shortage of knowledge how to get this business. So if you
are one of those professional folks who could use a few
hundred bucks to help out with this month's mortgage, here
are a few strategies to get your business buzzing with new
customers or clients:
1. Get on the phone! Pick up the phone and call everyone
you know. Contact all clients, prospects, friends and
family. Make sure they all know what you do, who you are
looking for as a client, and how to "give you away."
2. Get out and meet people! Sitting in the office,
shuffling paperwork and piddling around with emails will
not take you far enough fast enough. You need to be talking
to people who can buy your product or service. Set a goal
of how many people you want to see in person every day and
find ways to meet that goal!
3. Stop competing and start leveraging! Instead of being
mad at your competitors for stealing all your business,
approach them and offer to help out. At times we all get
projects that are too big, too small, or too "whatever" for
us to take on. Contact your competitors and ask if they
would be willing to outsource their "too whatever" jobs to
you - so that you can both make some dough. (Yeah, I know,
it sounds like eating some humble bread -- but hey, I think
it beats living under a bridge.)
4. Ask for referrals! You should be doing this anyway. Have
a conversation with all clients (past and current) and help
them think of people they can introduce you to right away.
Oh, and don't forget -- just because a prospect says "no,"
it doesn't mean he or she doesn't know someone who would
gladly say "yes."
5. Crank up your follow-up! Do you have a stack of cards
from people who turned you down once before? Maybe it's
time to resurrect them. Reach out to your "old" prospects -
even if you previously gave up on them. Give them a call,
send them a postcard or an article, and give them a special
reason to say "yes" now!
6. Forgive your ex-clients! Frequently ex-clients realize
they made a mistake by getting involved with another vendor
-- but they are too embarrassed to admit it. Give them a
way to gracefully come back to you and many will do it.
7. Catch a COI! Form an alliance with Centers of Influence
who can introduce to a large number of prospects at once
and give you instant credibility. Well thought out and
carefully executed strategic alliances with COI can infuse
your business with all the new sales you can handle.
8. Educate, educate, educate! Regardless of what business
you are in, you can always find things your clients and
prospects would appreciate learning from you. How-to tips,
informative case studies, industry reports -- those are all
great tools that can easily attract prospects hungry for
your "stuff."
9. Start thinking strategically! If you are having trouble
attracting enough new business, the marketing tactics above
should help you get things hopping, but to achieve a
long-term sustainable success you'll need to address your
marketing on a strategic level. Identify or re-evaluate
your ideal target market, clearly describe the benefits
your product or service provides, create a compelling
marketing message, re-evaluate your business model and
re-define your methods of delivering your product or
service, etc., etc.
10. Stop getting and start giving! When you are in the "how
I can GET a client" mode, you are focused on you -- and
that doesn't make you very attractive. Shift your thinking
to "how I can GIVE clients more VALUE" and you'll become an
irresistible client magnet!
11. GET HELP! When you are in the midst of a demanding
situation, you cannot always have the clarity needed to
creating solutions. Collaborate with a successful
associate, start your own board of advisors or a mastermind
group, or hire a marketing mentor to pull you out of the
quicksand. Remember, when time and money count -- you can't
afford the expensive "trial and error" learning curve!
Oh, and one final thought -- now that you are done reading
- get busy implementing!
----------------------------------------------------
The author, Adam Urbanski, teaches service professionals
and business owners how to develop better marketing
strategies to increase sales and profits. His website
offers more how-to articles and free tips to create a
winning marketing action plan at
http://www.themarketingmentors.com
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