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Cultivating new customers, clients and patients

In this article I'll discuss how to think out of the box online - in the never-ending search for cultivating new customers and clients.

Text links, squeeze pages, banners, ads, and search engines are all ways to attract prospective clients and hopefully add them to your customer base. But it’s your actual buyers that’s we’re really talking about here.

Forget about the web for a moment because it isn’t the only place to look for customers - even for web-only businesses. That's because some of the old, offline, tactics like word-of-mouth referrals can still work just as well, and can still bring in a decent addition to your sales each month.

What follows are a few tips to help you capture additional customers as you’re improving your web site and getting your online marketing programs established and in firmly place.

First, Know Your Market(s)

No matter what your line of business, you’ve got to know your market. You have to know who your customers or clients are, what they want that you can deliver, and what makes them buy.

Do your market research, check out your competitors, create a formal marketing plan—but remember to take the effort to put yourself in the shoes of your buyers.

Otherwise you won’t get any!

Also, as you do your research, be on the lookout for fringe markets that could be your customers. A lot of times there are underserved buyers who are on the edges of associated types of companies that could use what you have to offer - they just don't know it yet.

Remember when FedEx told us, "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight"? We didn't know we needed it overnight until they pointed out it was possible.

Look for things in your products or services that you can point out that people don't even realize would benefit them.

And finally, dig deeper to find more of your best customers and clients. Separate them into categories of their own interests, incomes, etc., and you'll have sub-niches your competition (hopefully) hasn't noticed yet.

The key to this strategy is to promote to each niche and sub-niche individually - not generically. Otherwise, you're wasting your money on niche-fying them to begin with.

Bring Out Your Biggest And Best Benefits

You might think you know all about your product’s biggest and best sales points - you might even be really, really proud of them. But the fact is, your buyers don’t give a hoot about all the wonderful bells and whistles you’ve packed into your product or service until they find out one thing...

They want you to answer the one key question they have on their minds:

“What’s in it for me?”

Your answer is what all of your marketing has to be centered around. You must explain to your prospects how you’re going to improve their lives, make something more simple or easy, or solve one or more of their problems.

Make Your Cash Register Ring By Making Your Site Sing

You might have noticed that it can take quite a lot of effort and a decent amount of time to create a web site that actually works to generate the results you are looking for. But you can’t stop there. You’re going to have to keep updating it, checking it, fine-tuning it, PLUS make sure all the links and addresses work.

I'm assuming that you have a lead generation system in place because it’s the first place I look to improve when I see a client's sales starting to drop. It’s crucial to create a prospect pipeline and keep filling it.

But most sites have nothing like this. In fact, they have no idea where to start putting one together.

That's just one of the many reasons our sites are so effective for our clients, and why we go to great lengths to protect what works for them from being stolen by others. It's what gives you a competitive edge over others in your business category.

the more you do with your site that doesn't copy and blend in with the rest of your profession or industry, the more you'll get from it. It's that simple.

So make your site sing, make it more effective break out of the box and show your visitors that you are different. That's what will bloat your bank account in a very nice way.

Be On The Lookout For New Marketing Opportunities

You've got to be alert for opportunities to make new business contacts. You can't allow yourself to be caught off guard or be too distracted when opportunities arise.

It shouldn't ’t matter whether you’re out shopping or at a Chamber of Commerce event, make sure you have professionally designed business cards, brochures, and other marketing tools on hand and at the ready.

And whatever you do, don’t be afraid to use them.

Also, you should already have a few ‘introductory scripts’ committed to memory that you’re very comfortable repeating instantly. You need these to confidently break the ice.

Do develop yours, imagine different common scenarios you yourself might find yourself in - common scenarios that others will find themselves in, too. Think about how you feel in those situations and consider how others feel, too.

Think about what someone else could say to you that would lower your guard and start a conversation. Then come up with what you can say to do the same.

KEY POINT: Always put yourself in the other person's shoes. It's their perceptions of what you do and say that are important - not what you WANT them to think or what you THINK they should know.

Consider the questions they might be asking themselves when you say something and have your answers ready.

There's a popular concept called an ‘elevator speech’, or ‘stadium speech’. It’s simply this...

Imagine that you're in an elevator and you have only 15 seconds or only 30 seconds between floors. You only have that much time to say something about what you do, how you do it better, and do it in a way so it creates interest and pulls them in.

The more interest, obviously, the better for you.

I help the clients I consult to come up with something that will compel the other people who are riding in the elevator with them to ask, “How do you do THAT?”

But you’ve only taken the first step. It’s still not time to sell just yet.

Carefully work on other scripts that allow you to progress your prospects through a serious of conversations that don’t scare them off, but lead up to the masking you the question you really want to hear...

“How do we get started?”

The stadium pitch is a similar concept in that you're in a huge stadium and you've got only seconds to say something that will keep them listening - otherwise people start walking out.

Don’t Keep Your Business a Secret

Tell everyone even remotely interested about your business and what your product does for people (or what it does for businesses if you're B to B).

You might even consider sending out a mass mailing to everyone you know, telling them what you’re doing. Just don't bore them to death. Instead create an attention-getting headline, tell them what they could get from what you offer, give examples or testimonials, and add your contact info.

Chances are, someone you know knows someone who wants what you’ve got, and friendly referrals usually bring in the best business around!

Find And Develop Repeat Customers - That's Cultivation!

When it comes to generating customers and clients, there are those who buy once and those who buy time after time after time. It’s the latter that you want to pack into your customer list because they are literally worth more than their weight in gold.

Larger companies are usually good places for you to prospect for repeat business as they have larger needs and bigger budget. But no matter the size of your customers or clients businesses, always treat your repeat business extremely well.

That might mean the unexpected on-the-spot discount or the occasional freebie out of nowhere, but the free word-of-mouth advertising you get from unexpectedly making someone's day should more than make up for it.

Obviously brief articles like this can never completely cover all the possibilities. I really didn’t get much of a chance to rave about a system I developed for my clients called ‘PreSold Referrals’, maybe I can do that some other time. But there are all kinds of things you can do to get new customers and clients and I’ll continue along that line in more detail in future articles.

That's about if for now...just remember that your customers and clients are what keep your business alive - no matter where you find them. Clients found on the web respond to many of the same things that would make them your customers in the offline world.

The sooner you think in those terms and apply what works offline, online to your web marketing, the further your site will go toward cultivating new customers and building your bank account.

Warmly,

Vince