August is traditionally a time when things go quiet for a lot of businesses as potential customers get back into the swing of things. When you need customers fast though, knowing that is no help at all. So, here’s my top simple and quick ways to get customers fast.
1. Talk to your past clients
Have you kept in touch with your past clients? Maybe they’re looking for your products and services right now. Drop them a line (either by phone, email or post) just to see how they’re getting on. When you’re looking for customers fast, your past clients are often a great source of leads.
2. Analyse what’s worked in the past
Write down a list of your current and past customers and next to each name, write down where this customer came from. Be specific – if it was a networking event, which one; if it was a referral – who sent it to you? Analysing your marketing in this way should give you a very clear idea of which marketing methods are working for you and which are not. Then you can go out and do more of the methods that are working for you.
3. Offer your customers something special in return for referrals
I’m sure in your business, you’ve had at least one referral in the past and when you need customers fast, referrals are a great quick source. Approach your current customers and past ones and offer them something in return for a referral – it could be a free e-book with quick tips; a bottle of wine; discounts of your future products and services. Try it, you might be surprised.
4. Go where your customers go
If you’re stuck for marketing ideas and want to find customers fast, one of the best ways is to look at your customers and have a think about where they would naturally congregate i.e. it might be at conferences; at the gym; on Facebook etc. Wherever it is, make sure you’re in these places too – you’ll meet your target customers very quickly and then you can start talking to them about what you do.
5. Give away free samples
Free samples, demonstrations, reports, tips sheets, e-books, audio recordings and so on are a fantastic way to build credibility quickly and allow your potential customers to experience your services. This way, they’re more likely to trust you and your company and feel that you can help them.
6. Go through your ‘potentials’ list
Most businesses have a list of potential customers that were interested in their products or services, but didn’t buy at the time. Dig those out and go through them all. While the vast majority may not buy, some will still have been thinking about using you and may well be in a position to buy.
7. Do some marketing
Finally, don’t sit there moaning and groaning that you haven’t got any customers. Get out there and do some marketing. Go to networking events, write some articles, call some people – it doesn’t matter what the marketing is; what matters is doing something and the more you do, the better you will feel and the more impact you will have.
Marketing does take a while to have an impact so if you want some customers, do some marketing today.
Exceptional Thinking (http://www.exceptionalthinking.co.uk) provides help and advice to small businesses on marketing and to people who are thinking about setting up in business.
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