Bringing in new customers is the hardest part of just about any business, no matter what products you sell or services you offer.
However, the good news is that it is often relatively easy to find and fix the problem in order to boost your new customer intake levels.
You Target the Wrong People
Could it be that you have a terrific product but that you are targeting the wrong people with it? At the outset of a new business it can be difficult to work out who exactly you need to attract.
One way of getting started on fixing this is to write down a list of the types of person you think would be most interested in what you offer. This could include details such as age, location, hobbies and any other factors that you can think of.
With this done, you can then work out how to get the details of the people that you are now targeting. Possibly the easiest way of doing this is to use a marketing company who can provide you with a list of appropriate leads.
It is only be making a serious attempt at selling to people who could genuinely be interested that you will know whether or not you have a chance of success.
You Have the Wrong Details
Another possibility is that you know who you want to get in touch with but that you don’t have the correct, up to date details for them. It is easy for a database to end up out of date and potentially useless reasonably quickly.
Getting hold of the right details is a priority and you can use tools such as a postcode finder to do this. Once you are sure that you have the right details then you can move forward with a good deal more confidence.
When you are able to send out offers and promotions knowing that the contact details are correct then you will feel that there is a far greater chance of finding success. Of course, not all of the cases will require the same solution.
While in some situations you may just need a postcode lookup approach, in others you may have to contact marketing specialists to get a thoroughly cleaned leads database.
You Don’t Have a Good Sales Process
Even if the previous points have all been covered well, there are still some other points that could see you run into problems when trying to close sales. For instance, could it be that you have a poor sales process that lets you down at the crucial moment?
It is relatively common for new companies in particular to pay so much attention to other issues that they forget to get a great sales process in place. This is a dangerous mistake to make, as the whole process could fall apart due to this oversight.
Therefore, creating a sales process should be one of the very first things that you deal with in any business. To do this you will want to consider the type of customer you are looking for and how you will attract them.
After this, you will want to put in place a process that lets you help your potential clients to buy from you as easily and smoothly as possible. You will also want to find the right sales staff to bring the process to life and close as many sales as possible.
You Got the Pricing Wrong
The final point is one of the most difficult to get right, as it involves making sure that you have got your prices at the perfect level. This is tough because you need to start off by putting an accurate value on your products or services in the first place.
If you get it wrong then you run the risk of not being able to attract any customers at all. This could be because there might be a less expensive rival out there or it could be because the price looks too low to be for real.
You can attempt to get this matter right through some field marketing. Let customers sample what you offer and tell you what they think would be a fair price for it. After this, you will want to see what other companies charge for similar services or products.
Once the sales process goes live you will want to keep a close eye on it and any feedback that you get from the public. The price you set at the start doesn’t have to be set in stone and can be changed if circumstances demand it.