Get More Clients

I know you want more clients for your business. We all do! And yet much of the advice out there doesn't seem quite right. So...

Get started, get clients.

If you want to grow your business you have to have a bias for action. Honestly compare the amount of time you spend implementing new marketing ideas versus thinking about new marketing ideas. You shouldn't be spending more than 10% of your time thinking and planing, you should be spending 90% of your time actually doing things that will help

You will learn the most by trying things out and watching the results rather than simply thinking and researching, get out into the game.

Ok I want to take action, but what action should I take ?

Before we get into that it's important to note that to grow your business will take sustained effort. You cannot start a blog or start attending networking events or kick off a promotion and expect results in a couple of weeks. Decide how long you are prepared to commit to a new course of action before evaluating it as a success or failure, and then triple it. Success takes longer than we think, be prepared to power through moments of doubt.

Yeah, yeah, but what should I do ?

Know more to grow more

Talk to people. Talk to your clients, potential clients, your competition. The information you need to bring more clients to your business is out there, you need to sniff it out. Literally ask people "I'm trying to grow the business, do you have any suggestions on how I can reach more people like you". You will be surprised at the feedback and suggestions you get, people want to help, but you have to ask.

Become a teacher

Why are you here, reading this webpage ? I would hazard a guess that it's because you think you might be able to learn something that will help you get clients and grow your business. Well what information are you offering your potential clients that helps them grow their business or improve their life in addition to the product or services that you provide professionally ? Is there a checklist or a FAQ sheet or a set of tips that you could put together that would be useful for your target market ?

Walk a mile in their shoes! (but remember to give the shoes back)

Marketing experts are united in the view that the biggest and most common mistake is failing to see things from the perspective of the target.

Take a look at your more successful competition and ask yourself what value clients are receiving that you are not offering. Perhaps the competition is larger and can offer clients greater security and reassurance. Perhaps the competition has more staff and quicker response times. Whatever it is you need to examine it from the point of view of a client and be totally honest. Then you can start thinking about and implementing ideas to bring competing value to your business.

Turn the question "how can I get more clients" into "how can I provide more value to clients and how can I communicate that value to potential clients".

Measure your business but not too much

Here are two suggestions that could seem a little contradictory. It's important to measure the in's and out's of your business but it's also important not to expect too much quick growth, that can be discouraging.

It's important to use measurements and metrics to monitor the state of your business because you will gain insight from the data you collect and from the process of deciding what data to collect and how it should be collected.

Do you know how many enquiries your business recieved last month ? Do you know how many were converted to appointments ? Do you know how the people enquiring heard about your business ? What percentage of your clients come from word of mouth referrals from existing clients ? Think about what the key metrics are for your business and put in place a means of recording the data you need.

Growing a business is like growing a plant. If you rush out every morning to check how much it's grown you won't see much progress. If you nurture and feed it you will be surprised how much it's shot up when you measure it's height every month.

Get Clients by making it as easy as possible to become a Client

Fastfood restaurants know that details are very important. People expect the burger to look like the picture, they expect the tray liner to be in place, they expect the person behind the counter to say and do the same things they did last time, even if last time was in another store in another country.

The reason for this is because people are always a little fearful of the unknown. The more you can make people feel that they understand the process and what is going to happen the more happy they are to move forward.

What does this mean for your business ? Well does a visitor to your website quickly know what process will be followed if they become a client. Not just how do they contact you but what are your different services called ? How do they communicate their requirements to you ? How long do they have to wait for a quote or an appointment ? What happens if they have a complaint or a change in requirements ? How many people will they be dealing with ? Can they deal with you over the phone or must they come in person ? The list of questions is endless and many of them will run through the mind of a potential client.

The smoother the process, the less uncertainty and fear in the potential client's mind, the more likely they will become an actual client. Make sure you've walked through your client interaction process from start to finish looking for wrinkles and moments of possible uncertainty and thought about how to remove them.