THE age-old conundrum for all of us who own, manage or sell for a business enterprise is, “Where the heck can I find new customers?” But now, for just three easy payments of $99.95, you too can learn the secret formula to acquire more customers than you can handle! But wait there’s more!
Well, just remember that your parents told you if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I agree with them.
Finding new customers is not easy. It takes strategic and tactical dialogue with your team, your business network of trusted advisors, and ultimately yourself. This takes some structured and disciplined thinking that includes taking off the “bias goggles.”
It’s time to take a fresh, objective look at the facts. You want some help, and for the low, low price of $19.95 … nah, just kidding.
Here are five strategic questions that can help you, your team and advisors identify where new customers’ hunting grounds are most bountiful.
1. Who do we want as our customers in the next three to five years?
Does this include anyone with a heartbeat and who pays their bills on time? If so, ramp up your marketing, social media, sales team and ramp down your pricing/profit expectations … and you are off to the races.
Prepare for long hours, high turnover and reduction in customer service ratings. This formula has worked well to gain market share for large organizations that are well financed. Not so much for the small business integrator/dealer, or those who depend on their reputation and referrals to attract customers.
For you, the “who” question should be, “Who are our most loyal, profitable, stable, growth-oriented customer market segments?” Once you identify them, you are on the right path to finding new customers.
2. What do we really know about their industry, market segment/category and business?
Surprisingly, many of our clients have some challenges with this question.
While they definitely know about their transactional relationship with their customers (security products and services provided), they are less clear about the business issues that drive their customers’ companies. Taking time to continually understand your customers’ business is the first strategic step in finding new customers. It has worked for my business for the past 19 years.
Remember the adage “birds of a feather flock together”? This also holds true for potential customers that flock with your current valued customers. Simply asking for a referral isn’t good enough. Find out what pains they share as a market segment, validate it and then ask for an introduction. It works about 80% of the time, so give it a try.
