If you’ve run your own company for any length of time you will know that generating new prospects and converting them into paying clients is the most expensive part of growing any business.

Yet selling more to existing clients costs 5 to 9 times LESS, and is actually an easier sell because the client has already been involved buying from you. As long as they have had a good experience, they are more likely to buy again.

So why is it that people INSIST on driving their customers away?

To give you some examples which may seem familiar to you, here are a few of the things I’ve seen just in the past few weeks…

• A restaurant I went to the other night for dinner with friends had serving staff who were so rude I will NEVER go back (and I won’t be recommending them either)
• A franchise opportunity where the franchisor didn’t answer phone calls or respond to emails, even though a friend of mine had spoken to them once and already expressed an interest in spending £60,000 to buy a License (they kept my friend waiting for nearly a week and when they finally contacted him, it was only to say they were “too busy” to have the meeting!)
• A well known mobile phone provider where the Customers Services representative actually called my partner ‘a liar’ regarding an upgrade request she had previously placed for a new mobile phone (then the girl found the detail already on her computer system but I think she forgot the call was being recorded!)
• A hotel which is actively being marketed as a place with “Good Coffee and Quiet Meeting Environment” to encourage business people to meet there, but where they serve you pre-made (and quite disgusting) coffee. (I like my coffee…)
• A major Energy Provider who sent a number of threatening letters to a friend of mine just before Christmas, to pay an electricity bill for £3,425.37 which they later admitted had been sent to the wrong person in error.

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As a child I clearly remember my mother telling me (on more than one occasion) “Use your common sense!”

But what IS ‘Common Sense’?

Just because something is obvious to you, doesn’t necessarily mean the same to someone else. If it did, we would all have had the same grades in our “O-Levels” (I’m showing my age now ), all drive SMART cars and all work as Cosmetic Dentists – now, apart from everyone having perfect looking teeth and always be able to find a parking space, how boring would that be?

But assuming that everyone will react in the same way also causes a problem…

… it’s all too easy to take things for granted, especially when it comes to marketing your business. It is way too easy to assume that your prospects will know and understand the benefits of your product or service like you do.

Remember Blendtec who I mentioned a few weeks ago? Let’s use them as an example…

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For some time now I have been asked if there is an easy way to attract a better class of client, as well as improve cashflow.

In my experience there is no such thing as an “easy way” – or at least, not in the way most people think of as easy – but there are 14 simple ideas you can use to get things running more smoothly and help you get consistent results and predictable business growth.

Here they are:

1. Clarify Who Your Ideal Client Is – Be clear who your clients are. Do you know exactly who needs the product or service you sell? Time to get specific.
2. Build A Clear USP – You absolutely need to be clear WHY you are different from your competitors. Create a great USP which clearly educates your clients and prospects about the benefits of buying from you. Focus on those things which not only tells your clients why you are the BEST choice, but why you are the ONLY choice when they are making their buying decision.
3. Gain Loyalty Through Education – Explain you and your business to clients and prospects in an informative and educational way. Explain to them the benefits of how your product or service will help and benefit their life or business. Remember WIIFM – What’s In It For Me? Make sure you tell them WHY they should even care!
4. Simplify Everything – You won’t offend anyone by explaining things using easy-to-understand language, as long as you don’t come across in a patronising manner. If your message is not clear and easy to understand, then go back and simplify it again.
5. Ignite Their Curiosity Don’t Bore Their Bones – What’s new in your business? Clients and prospects will want to know, providing there is a benefit to them. You need to give them compelling reasons to buy from you and keep buying from you again and again. Tell them what is new in your business and what you offer to your clients. Tell your client’s success stories, or new promotions of offers you are running.
6. Develop Client Trust – Like it or not, people who don’t know you will generally distrust you – it’s a fact of life. You need to overcome this distrust with proof that you can deliver the benefits you say you can. Use testimonials, case studies, industry facts and figures – anything and everything you can that shows you are the best at what you do.
7. Ask For Action – Always ask the prospect/client to take action – NOW. If you ask, more people are more likely to actually do what you want them to do.
8. Develop A Follow-Up Process – Firstly, make sure you do everything you can to capture a prospect’s contact information – present a compelling reason or offer as to why they should give you their details – and then follow up!
9. Create Upsells – Look at every opportunity to increase average client transaction value by increasing client spend at the time of purchase. What’s your “Would you like fries with that?”
10. Increase Response Through Phone Follow-Up – After any direct mail campaign, make sure you call as many of your list of prospects as you can – it will dramatically increase the response you get. If you don’t have time (or you are not comfortable doing it) yourself, then hire professionals to do it for you.
11. Take The Time To TELL Clients You Appreciate Them – Don’t let them guess, make SURE they know how much you value them – after all they pay the bills! Statistics show 68% of people change suppliers because they don’t feel that supplier cares about them!
    
12. Create Alliances And Joint Ventures – Find complementary businesses to joint venture with and cross-promote to their lists as well as your own.
13. Adopt A “Loyalty Programme” Mentality – People who have bought from you before are 6 times more likely to buy from you again, so you should be continually be developing your offering for products or services – either your own or through partners. Your entire strategy after they have bought once should be to offer them other things they can buy from you – again and again.
14. Establish An ACTIVE Referral System – Make sure you ASK your clients to refer to you – don’t rely on them to mention you in passing – most people forget or feel awkward. If someone has a really good experience dealing with your company, you can make it so they would feel guilty for NOT telling their friends, family and business associates about you. Sometimes offering rewards, incentive or some kind of benefit can increase the referrals you get.

This should give you an idea or two to work with, but I know that not everyone will have the time of confidence to get these implemented…

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If I’ve been asked once, I’ve been asked a thousand times this week about “cheap ” ways of marketing for lead generation – must be something to do with the current climate!

Now, if you are also making the mistake of thinking this way when it comes to ensuring the future of your business, then you may need to alter your approach slightly…

The focus should always be – indeed HAS to be – your message and the audience you are targeting.

Then, and only then, should you look at the method for delivering your message to them, in a way which will compel them to open and read it.

It has been proven time and again that the more you spend in trying to attract the right type of client with the right message, the quicker and better your business will grow – and best of all your competitors will be looking at NOT spending money to attract new business – so who are prospects going to be attracted to?

This makes perfect sense when you understand the Life Time Value of your clients.

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In case it has escaped your notice, we are in troubled times – heading for a recession at lightening speed if the Media are to be believed.

Whoever you listen to at the moment, whether they are experts on the economy, Politicians or other figures of authority, the word on everyone’s lips is…

“Recession…”

But is the economy really as bad as we are led to believe? And if it is, what can you – as the owner of your business – do to reduce the impact it will have on you?

It’s definitely the question I’m asked the most at the moment:

“What do I need to be doing in my business in order to survive?”

It’s true that consumer and some business spending is down. It was announced recently that retail spending for April in the UK was dramatically down on the figures for the same period last year. Indeed, the annual midsummer retail report states “this is the worst retail market since the early 1990s”.

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