Finding New Business
Business growth has always been one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of running a business. It’s common for small business owners to be the primary sales people for their business, as well as the CEO.
The most common challenge for business owners is how to find and close new business. With the speed of change in the modern business climate, it can feel almost impossible to identify what actions you should be doing on a daily basis to find new business.
With that in mind, we’re going to cover the 3 most important things you can be doing to grow your business in 2020.
#1 – Give Value
The best thing you can be doing right now is giving things away. The Law of Reciprocity is real and it is powerful. This doesn’t mean using gimmicks and tricks to make people want to work with you.
When I say give value, I mean give away as much as you can for free without asking for anything in return. It sounds crazy, but it works. Here are a few examples.
Let’s say you’re a mechanic shop. You could start doing something for free for every customer that comes in for an diagnostic on their car. Imagine their surprise when you show them a list of things that are wrong with their car and you already fixed three of them!
Another example would be a sales coach. Next time you have a conversation with a potential customer, send them an email with recommendations for things they could do right now to improve their sales without even hiring you.
A great way to give value is to create handouts or PDF’s with really valuable tips, tricks, or processes that help your audience solve their problems. Send them to potential customers, networking partners, and your LinkedIn network for free.
#2 – Create A Video Show
Vidcasts are one of the best ways to find new business in 2020. Creating a video show is really simple. You just need a microphone, a webcam, and a software like Skype or Zoom.
Here’s how you do it.
- Find some subject matter experts in your network that know topics your audience cares about.
- Invite those guests on your show and make sure they know you’ll give them a spot to plug their business.
- Release your episodes on YouTube, LinkedIn, and post them on your website!
Creating a video show is great for a number of reasons. First of all, it lets you build relationships with other great business partners in a relaxed and fun way. Second, it’s one of the easiest and most powerful forms of content creation. In one video episode you create enough content for a video, a podcast and a blog post, basically in one hour.
The most important thing to remember is that your audience is the focus. Find guests who solve problems that you audience deals with and make sure you’re asking really good questions!
#3 – Treat Your Customers Right
With all the focus on “new business” we can easily ignore one of the best ways to grow our customer base: current customers. Many companies think of current customers in terms of how they can get more money from them or increase their “wallet share,” but that’s the wrong way to look at current customers. First of all, you should be treating your customers like gold all the time. They are the lifeblood of your business.
Second, when you give your customers an amazing customer experience, they become your ambassadors to the world. Referrals are one of the most powerful ways for a business to grow, but you have to earn them. Just working for your clients isn’t enough, you need to give them an experience.
This means marketing to your current customers as well. Run free giveaways and contests for your current customers. Find ways to give them extra value for free. Create perk programs or rewards that they can earn. When you make your customers feel like they’re the most important thing in the world, they will want their friends to have that experience as well.
Have Fun With It
In 2020, “fun” isn’t really a word being thrown around too much. But that’s all the more reason to really work at making it fun! Too many businesses are living scared and worried and it’s affecting their ability to find and attract new business.
Customers aren’t looking for vendors that are scared and worried about the future. They are looking for businesses that are excited about the future and emanating fun from every facet of their company.
Your attitude matters more than anything when it comes to finding new business. Make your business irresistible and you will attract your perfect customers.