Find Customers

Steps to bringing new business through the door

For many new business owners, the hardest part to being successful is finding customers. Having a great product or service that many people will need is not enough to get a company started.
But, there are several steps business owners can take to gain customers. Janet Attard’s businessknowhow.com article, “Eleven Ways to Find Customers” provides these tips:
• Develop a plan. Know exactly who your ideal customer is and where they look for products. Find a way to put your information, or yourself, in their path.
• Realize there is no one path to success. Sales often happen because customers hear about your products or services in several different ways. The more often they hear about you, the more likely they are to consider doing business with you.
• Work your local newspapers. Daily and weekly newspapers are a source of contact information and leads to potential customers. Look for names of people who were promoted, won awards or opened a new business. Find ways to get in touch with them.
• Watch for events that may bring your potential market together. Contact event organizers and offer to give away your product or service as a prize during the event in exchange for having the group promote you in their promotions.
• Attend meetings and seminars that your prospects might attend. Look in the newspapers to see what other organizations hold events that your target market would attend.
• Follow up after meetings. Contact people you’ve met to see if they may be prospects. If they don’t need your services now, ask when a good time to call them back would be.
• Give a little bit to get a lot. Give away free samples of your product so recipients will tell their friends about you.
• Work your personal network. Ask your friends if they know of people who can use your services; offer friends and business associates a finder’s fee for referrals that turn into jobs.
• Study your competition. Advertise where they do. Promote yourself where your competition promotes themselves.
• Use multiple small ads instead of one big one. The repetition will build name recognition. Don’t expect to make a splash with one big ad.
• Ask for feedback when prospects don’t buy. Use what you learn to make changes and watch your sales start to grow.