Keeping ’Em

It’s far easier, and much more cost-effective, to keep the customers you have rather than trying to attract new ones. It’s also much more profitable.

In other words, fix your leaky bucket rather than constantly add more water.

Selling more goods and services to customers you already know (and who know you) is far easier than constantly making first-time sales.

Think about it. Who would you rather call: a customer who you know will probably buy, or someone you’ve never met, to whom you’ll have to explain your product or service and convince them it’s got value and that you are a trustworthy and reputable business?

Ninety-nine entrepreneurs out of a hundred will pick the first choice. It’s easier, and there’s a greater likelihood for a positive outcome: a sale!

Your existing customers find value in what you offer, and they trust you. That’s why they’re your customers.

Building trust and rapport is the constant hurdle in cold-calling and prospecting. Nearly every new customer is distrusting at the beginning of a sales cycle.

Evaluate yourself as a consumer. When dealing with a new vendor, do you immediately trust the person/business? Probably not, unless they’re a referral or have a long list of rock-solid testimonials. Even then, you may not trust them until you’ve verified the information for yourself. Your prospects are no different. Why should they be?

The first four of those obstacles are difficult enough to overcome. Why burden your efforts by having to clear the trust hurdle as well? With your existing customers, you don’t have to. You’ve already established trust and rapport.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, how do you compete? How can you get more customers so you can increase your profits? Whatever marketing method or methods you use, it takes a lot of time, energy, and resources.

Maybe you’ve got sales representatives pounding the pavement and touting your products or services. If so, you know the expenses involved: commissions, benefits, mileage reports, quotas, training, and the list goes on.

Even if you opt for networking to spread the message about your company, you’ve still got to make a time investment, and, as an entrepreneur, you know that time really is money. How can you compete? How can you get customers?

Even if you’ve got the best marketing campaign in place and the most successful sales staff, you’ve got to track every effort to determine what’s working and what’s not. Failing to measure results is one of the quickest roads to business failure. How can you possibly know where to invest your efforts and resources without knowing what’s working and what’s not? If you’re guessing, you might as well throw your hard-earned money into the wind and hope for the best.

There’s no question about it—getting new customers has always been tough business, and in this current difficult economy, it’s even more so! Getting ’em is very tough.

Is there a better way to grow your business?

I’m glad you asked. There is.

As an entrepreneur, you know just how difficult it can be to get new customers, so once you get them, you want to be sure to keep them…to be sure they “stick” around.

Marketing to Get New Customers Is Tough

Think about all the advertisements you see on any given day. If there’s a space, there’s an ad. Newspapers, magazines, billboards, the sides of buses, the roofs of taxicabs, hotel keys, and flip-down trays on airplanes all carry ads. There are even ads on the backs of bathroom stall doors.

Television and radio have long been supported by advertising, and you’ll probably agree that the amount of broadcast advertising seems like it’s surpassing actual programming content.

We’re also exposed to a constant stream of messages vying for our attention online. Search ads, flash animation, pop-up boxes. With every click, there’s another advertisement!

There’s no escaping marketing messages.

Marketing to get new customers can be expensive and time-consuming. How can you compete? How can you get customers into your business?

Despite the rise of the Internet, direct mail advertising is still not only viable, it is incredibly effective. Just look in your mailbox if you don’t agree. It’s filled with postcards and letters enticing you to open them and read them. It must be working, or businesses wouldn’t continue using this time-tested marketing method.

Unfortunately, direct mail advertising can be expensive and time-consuming. You’ve got to develop a campaign (or pay someone else to do it), design and print the ads (or pay someone else to do it), buy and/or maintain your list and mail it (or pay someone else to do it), and finally, measure the results (or pay someone else to do it).

Getting ’Em

Most entrepreneurs spend a lot of time, energy, and resources on customer acquisition, and any entrepreneur will tell you that time, energy, and resources are the three most valuable commodities. They are also three of the most expensive and difficult marketing commodities to sustain.

I am an eager and continuous student of marketing and business. If you’re like me, you’ve probably also read countless books and articles about different marketing strategies designed to help you get more new customers into your business.

With every passing week, and with the constant expansion of the Internet’s power, it seems that there’s always some new marketing strategy or tool to learn about, with each proclaiming to be the best way to get more customers. No doubt, it’s a challenge to figure out what works best for attracting new customers to your business.