What is one surefire way to win more clients in a small business?
To help small businesses adopt the best ways to win more clients, we asked successful business owners and entrepreneurs this question for their best insights. From becoming a part of your community to offering bring-a-referral deals, there are several practical ways for small businesses to project their brand and deliver excellent service to win over more clients.
Here are 12 surefire ways to win more clients:
- Become a Part of Your Community
- Use a Chatbot for Customer Support
- Offer Behind-the-Scene Content
- Follow the Customer Journey
- Utilize Your Existing Network
- Participate Actively With Facebook and Linkedin Groups
- Build Credibility
- Offer Personalized Service
- Determine Your Target Market to Help Direct Your Reach
- Give Away Free Knowledge
- Entice Clients With Discounts and Special Offers
- Offer Bring-a-Referral Deals
Become a Part of Your Community
Consumers are more likely to purchase from a business if they have any kind of brand recognition. As a small business, making large scale marketing campaigns may be out of the question, but that does not mean that you cannot still get your name out there. Participating in your local community’s events can be a great way to get your name out there in the neighborhood. Customers will be attracted to what you have to offer when they know that you are a local business.
Brandon Brown, GRIN
Use a Chatbot for Customer Support
When a business is new, exceptional customer service is critical – otherwise, how can you get your first customers and retain them? That’s where technology helps. AI-powered chatbots are exceptionally helpful for small businesses: they take care of welcoming new visitors, remind them about their abandoned carts, invite them to share feedback, and smoothly lead customers through all stages of the buyer journey. Chatbots are also pretty easy to handle for the business itself: often easily designed and customized without any coding, they can be set up in under 10 minutes, in any language. It is not only a simple way to provide a great customer experience but a sure path to increasing profits: chatbots help with lead generation and conversions can reduce customer support costs.
Maryia Fokina, Tidio
Offer Behind-the-Scene Content
One surefire way a small business can win more clients is by offering a ‘behind the scenes’ look. Utilizing video or photo content, share what goes on in your small business with social media. One of the benefits of being a small business means less red tape and more transparency with customers. Seeing what really goes on at your company will humanize your brand and build trust with customers instantly.
Sheila Busheri, Universal Diagnostic Laboratories
Follow the Customer Journey
Follow the steps of the customer journey which involve awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy. Working on each of these steps in this order will be very helpful. For example, once you implement a brand awareness campaign through your digital marketing initiatives, this will put you in an excellent position to create a new campaign that encourages clients to set up meetings with sales reps. This would be the consideration stage. Then you would move on to the purchase stage, in which you would encourage a lead to become a customer. Without following the customer journey steps in the correct order, you will not be able to attract as many new clients.
Miles Beckett, Flossy
Utilize Your Existing Network
If you want to win over new clients to your small business, it’s a good idea to start with leveraging your existing network. These are people that you’ve already established trust with, which will make it easier for you to leverage your new products or services. You already know what interests the people in your network have, so you can target them with ease. They may even have more connections to people in their network that have similar interests and needs as them, bringing you more new clientele in the long run.
Rich Rudzinski, Tragic Media
Participate Actively With Facebook and Linkedin Groups
Actively participating in Facebook and LinkedIn groups can be the perfect way to acquire more clients. By engaging with others in a professional way, you can help spread awareness of the goods or services you provide. No matter what niche your business is in, there will be a group for it. Think of these social media platforms as a substitute for in-person networking events. The more active you are, the higher your potential of finding clients.
Jorge Vivar, Mode
Build Credibility
Credibility is a significant factor in winning more clients. Even when starting with your business and not having a vast client base, you should provide the best possible service to the clients you have. This will pay off in the long run. When clients see that your business has garnered positive reviews online, this will make them feel more comfortable working with your business. When they have no third-party proof that your business is worthwhile, it is more difficult for them to trust your company.
Drew Sherman, RPM
Offer Personalized Service
Small businesses have an advantage over big corporations in that they’re able to give specialized, personalized treatment to their clients. Whether you’re B2B or direct to consumer, many clients will be interested in a small business because they know it means they aren’t getting boilerplate treatment, which many ignore many of their needs. Lean into your advantage as a small business when dealing with clients – learn their names, their personalities, and their individual needs.
John Jacob, Hoist
Determine Your Target Market to Help Direct Your Reach
One surefire way for small businesses to win more clients is to determine their target market, and offer unique and compelling services that meet their specific needs. Positioning the business with services that are appealing and relevant to its market, will help with customer growth, as well as loyalty and referrals. Small businesses should not only niche their services and products, but also the experience it offers their customers, allowing the business to align with the values of the audience and build trust. Small businesses that can identify and serve a niche market are more likely to win new clients than those that try to be all things to all people.
Oshen Davidson, Oshen Davidson Photo
Give Away Free Knowledge
One way a small business can get more clients is to offer free consultations on your expertise. This can be done no matter what business you’re in because you are skilled in your field. You can speak to local clubs and offer how-to expertise that others find helpful. This type of exposure will do much to gain you clients because people will do business with people they know and like. Presenting yourself and your knowledge to them in public settings or by offering free consults one-on-one will garner their trust and increase your credibility.
Bruce Tasios, Tasios Orthodontics
Entice Clients With Discounts and Special Offers
Although there are multiple factors to consider when it comes to acquiring new clients, it’s safe to say that nothing beats good value and deals, nowadays. Give potential clients incentives by providing exciting introductory offers that will lure them into your business. Bargains and discounts can be the final push for those who have been considering doing business with you. Once they’ve taken the step, keep track of the offers that worked best and provide similar deals to keep them coming back.
Benoit Lacroix, Portmoni
Offer Bring-a-Referral Deals
In my opinion, since small businesses are usually short on marketing budget, running deals like ‘Bring a Referral, and Get X’ or ‘Bring a Friend, and Get X’, can really increase brand awareness, and customer base. And this is just a basic template – get creative with your offer to make it even more compelling for your target audience. For instance, the deal would be different for a small B2C business as compared to a corporate B2B company. Focus on providing as much value to your ideal clients, so you can make this campaign a hit.
Joe Troyer, Digital Triggers
Brett Farmiloe is the founder of Terkel, a Q&A platform that connects brands with expert insights. Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights. Sign up at terkel.io to answer questions and get published.
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