Taking on new clients is always a big step for business. It’s a sign you’ve come a long way since you began, and it’s a promise of great things to come in the future. And no matter why you want to bring on new clients, doing so can only ever be a benefit to you. For example:
Maybe you’re looking to make a bigger name for your company? Maybe you’re hoping to network in the right circles and get all your efforts back tenfold? Or maybe you just want to up your baseline profits? These are all excellent motivations for expanding your business, and they can all be achieved by opening yourself up to new clients!
But how can you take on a challenge like this? Well, there are quite a few effective methods for bringing on new clients, and even for perfecting your onboarding process. Here are some of the most commonly used that’ll generate the kind of results you’re looking for.
A face to face meeting is an incredible method!
Learn How to Network
Networking to find clients, that is. Because there are many different types of networking – i.e., finding new business contacts, finding new employees for your company, etc. – and reaching out to offer your own services is a whole different ball game. You’re the one in the hot seat now, and you’ve got to prove that whatever it is you’re selling is worth it.
But if you go straight into a conversation with the plan to sell something, you’re not going to be met with much success.
People don’t like to be immediately drafted into a sales call when they first meet you, and they don’t like being strung along only to be sold something later on either. So you’ve got to be a lot more gentle, and a lot more helpful, to really capture a person’s attention.
Connect with those who are in the same or a connected industry as yours. Make sure your initial message to them is friendly, but also has something to offer in an enticing way.
For example, if you’re using LinkedIn as your main base to find people who might like to hire you, you can use these message templates to get you started. Of course, personalize them where you can, and always make sure your own tone and style flows through for the best results.
Keep on Refining Your Website
Your website is your company’s representative, and that means it needs to be capable of speaking for you. You’re not always going to be there to welcome potential clients in one by one, and honestly, you shouldn’t have to be. You’re a busy person, and we created the digital world for a reason!
And your website does a lot of work, even if it only took you 10 or so minutes to set it up. It provides a proper online link for your services, as well as a face and a name to put together, and that’s invaluable when working online. You want people to be who they say they are, and without a bit of evidence to prove you can get the job done, very few people are going to get in touch with you.
So what can you do to refine your website even further?
Make it easier to use, easier to contact you, and easier to find out what it is you do. People want to know as much about you as they can from even just your homepage, so that’s where the important points should go. You can link to further pages from here for more information, but don’t expect someone to go through 2 or 3 more walls to find out what they want to know!
Make it Easy to Schedule an Appointment
One of the worst things that can hold you back from obtaining new customers is failing to reach out and schedule an appointment with them. Whether you’re a bit too busy, or you simply forget because you’ve got a lot of leads to chase this week, it can be quite tricky to stay on task and actually follow up when you’re only a one person team.
And let’s face it, you don’t quite have the budget to bring anyone else into the team right now, do you? So what can you do instead?
Well, you can think about automating this issue, and make having to remember to reach out a thing of the past. After all, reminder calls can be easily implemented into your current tech setup, even if you’re just working with a laptop and phone, and you don’t have to lift a finger to remind someone about a meeting.
You can also think about inputting a client outreach rota. Day one, you find leads, day two, you get in contact with those leads, and so on and so forth. This way you section out your working week into easily workable parts, and you save yourself a headache over getting your tasks confused later on.
Use Referrals to Your Advantage
Your existing client base is an absolute goldmine, and for more reasons than just the fact that they can come back to order more services from you from time to time. They can refer your services to others they know who are in need, and then those people can do the same, and it really can start to snowball from there. You could end up with an endless amount of referrals, depending on just how useful your services are to the person in question, and without any extra effort from you!
So start asking clients you’ve worked with in the past to pass on your name. Make sure you’re at the front of their mind by reminding them of this if you see they’re about to attend a conference or networking event, and never forget to ask for a testimonial once you’ve worked together.
Work with Other Businesses
You’re not the only small business in the area! There are hundreds, and even thousands of other small operations like yours, and that’s very important to keep in mind. Because even though you’re not working together, you can start to think of these people as your local co-workers, simply because of how much you can do for each other.
You can give each other access to your client bases, come up with a new product and/or service to provide together that has at least double the chance of return, and you can pass on business contacts to one another. Simply put, you can do a lot for each other by simply getting in touch and bringing up the topic of collaboration, and opening up a dialogue that could be very beneficial for the both of you.
Send out letters and/or emails, get in touch with cold calling, or if you see one another in town, go over and strike up a conversation. It might take a bit of confidence, but it’s worth it to even just talk about the possibilities of collaboration the two of you have.
Opening up your business to new clients doesn’t have to be difficult, although it may be challenging, and it doesn’t have to take you forever to find a new lead that’s worth the effort. Make sure you use tips like those above to really broaden your horizons and find the people who want to work with you – you’ve got a good chance of making this year your year!