How to get new business clients?

I’ve been in business for right many years now.

Seems like almost all of my business comes via word of mouth.

I have done BNI and had some success.

Just wondering if others would share how to get more business clients.

Small offices 1 to 75 employees sorta places.

THX!

We’ve implemented a few longer term strategies for our company:

  • Getting on Trust Pilot and asking clients to leave good reviews (public word of mouth)
  • Doing market research, offering what your near competitors don’t.
  • Try and embed your locale into your website, ie use the geographic(telephone) number for your area, if you want local clients, or a national number if you want clients from further afield.
  • One way that I got a big revenue stream was from offering one off free services. Customers kept coming back after a one off freebie - and the freebie then compensates itself.
  • Put yourself on local business directories and in newspapers.
  • Maybe create a ‘refer a friend’ incentive. People are more likely to recommend you if they get something back.

Hope some of those things help.

I like it!

Anyone else have any other ideas?

1 Like

I’m reluctant to reply because this subject has an enormous set of answers, but each of them typically apply in very specific circumstances. (I used to teach this class, and I was always impressed at how my students discovered new and successful methods.) What follows is necessarily very generalized.

It’s important to be able to explain, very succinctly, exactly what your expertise is, which might be stated as “what problem can you solve.” In that explanation it’s critical to also state a value proposition. Example: “We engineer, install, and maintain very high reliability and high availability wireless networks for small to mid-size businesses serving the East Tenchurch, Nebraska area.”

You may do many other things very well, but each of those has to be considered a separate business for marketing purposes.

Once you have your value statement, make sure it is clearly spelled out in everything you do, including your web site, your business cards, and your stationery. In a business setting, always introduce yourself with that phrase.

If you provide services to a specific geographic area, consider renting a mailing list and sending postcards. Hint: on the postcard be sure to state, “Save this postcard so you can find us when the need arises, because it will.”

You can never network enough! Join every group you can identify that has regular meetings, show up, be open and friendly, and sincerely inquire of each person you meet to find out what they do, where they do it, and what’s their most pressing concern (not problem!). Make sure you give them a business card, and remember to say, “Save this card; someday someone you know will need our services and they will be grateful for your help.”

Have a separate cell phone for your business and answer it whenever it rings, including in the middle of the night. Yes, you will have to fend off a bazillion spam calls.

Make sure to remind every one of your customers, repeatedly, that you are always looking for new clients and will be extremely grateful for any referrals. Do not promise money! And make sure they have one of your “save this card” business cards.

Do all of the things in the previous response!

Write back and tell us just a little more about what kind of business you run. Better yet, tell us what your value statement is.

The second bullet point is an excellent observation. Do what others shun or don’t know how to do. Have a specialty and a detailed prospect profile.

1 Like

Thanks! There are SO many IT businesses in my area that do the exact same thing, therefore people always use cost to differentiate them and tend to go for the cheapest. While I’ve basically outlined a set of services that I know the others dont offer. They may copy, but that’s when we innovate and broaden our service set even further. The more you can offer a client on a single monthly bill, the more convenience you bring to their lives. Typically I find that clients don’t like looking around for several providers to do different things, so we try and do that market research for them, and will consolidate everything into one monthly package. :blush:

1 Like