All posts tagged word of mouth marketing

Tips for Keeping Your Clients Coming Back

Tips for Keeping Your Clients Coming Back

We all know it’s better and more cost effective to have a steady stream of returning customers than always being focused on finding new customers. So, how do we keep our customers coming back once the first sale is made? Think of the first transaction as the first date in a series of dates, which ultimately leads to a long and wonderful relationship. The way to keep customers coming back is to develop and nurture a relationship with them.

Here are some ideas to keep your new customer coming back, in order to establish a lasting relationship:

  1. Promote your strengths, best products/services and greatest value compared to competitors.
  2. Offer incentives/discounts for return customers.
  3. Develop a customer-based community online: create a Facebook page where customers can share ideas and communicate with others of like mind.
  4. Once you have a Facebook page, provide valuable and interesting information that can help your customers.
  5. Create trust: let your customers know that if they don’t like something you’ll fix it.
  6. Contribute to a cause in a way that involves your customers. For example, if you sell books, offer to collect old books to give to charity like your local library or women’s shelter, and in return your customer gets 15% off on their next purchase.
  7. Establish a loyal customer rewards program and make it feel like it’s personalized to each individual.
  8. Make the sales process easier, faster and better than your competitors.
  9. Establish a follow up process to check on your customer’s satisfaction and needs regularly.
  10. Offer free personal delivery service or shipping.
  11. Establish an online relationship with your customers and provide real-time customer service.
  12. Provide an easy and comfortable way for customers to provide feedback, and promote changes and improvements you’ve made based on the suggestions of your customers.
  13. Once in a while, surprise your best customers with a special gift and share what you’ve done with the world.
  14. Highlight loyal customers and promote their importance for the world to see (create positive buzz).
  15. Create a fun, interactive contest as part of your marketing.
  16. Provide memorable and excellent customer service and value consistently.
  17. Focus on making the customer feel special, respected, highly valued and like they are a dear friend.

The key is to focus your efforts on developing a relationship with your customers, offering excellence, value and unique service that only you can provide.

How do you keep your customers coming back? We love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

How to Find Customers

How to Find Customers

There are two major components to a thriving business: Happy and loyal customers that come back, as well as a steady stream of new customers.

The first is a matter of consistently providing excellent service that people appreciate and talk about.

The second one may seem a bit more challenging. So how do you find new customers?

Go to where the people are. You should not rely on your salesmanship, but instead focus on increasing the quantity of people that you engage with on a regular basis. People are around you all the time, and within that group are your customers. Your goal is to find them, talk to them, befriend them and nurture them so that they become the first group: happy and loyal customers.

First, let’s begin with where to find new customers:

  1. Join an association/club/organization
  2. Take a community-sponsored class or course
  3. Present a workshop or be a speaker
  4. Get a hobby and join others with the same interests
  5. Get involved with a charity or cause
  6. Go to a networking event
  7. Go onto social media networks, engage and find old/new friends
  8. Go to family parties, reunions, and social events
  9. Promote and sponsor a community activity/event of your own
  10. Start a book, breakfast, coffee, coupon, or arts & crafts club
  11. Network with other businesses and business people in your community
  12. Become a connector/referrer for others, and become a go-to person
  13. Start a referral rewards program with existing clients
  14. Use local advertising and marketing

Second, once you find them here’s what you need to do:

  1. Be curious and learn to enjoy meeting people
  2. Ask questions and improve your listening skills
  3. Be positive and inviting
  4. Be professional and authentic
  5. Don’t be a salesman, but be friendly and social
  6. Become a “let’s have coffee” person and meet face to face with people
  7. Be a social and party person
  8. Have all the possible ways to contact you on your business card
  9. Start using and writing notes on your business card to hand to people you meet
  10. Make yourself memorable, but not over the top. Make your first impression a lasting one
  11. Convey passion in what you do

It’s all about the numbers. Seek quantity. Quality customers will only come if meet enough people. Start with a new goal of meeting new people and engaging them every day.

Let us know how these tips help you increase new customers. What tips can you share for finding new customers for your business? Would love to read your ideas in the comments below!

How to Build Your Brand

How to Build Your Brand

It seems like everyone is talking about branding these days. People are branding everything. For example, what’s the difference between tap water and bottled water? Are there real differences or is it all in the branding?

Branding is an important topic for your small business because it helps you stand out from your competition. Your brand identifies and defines your business for your target market.

Here are some simple steps to help you build your brand.

  • Identify your target market by connecting your uniqueness to the appropriate consumer. Your brand promotes your strengths and how you service your target market, and it establishes a clear difference from your competitors.
  • Be positive and a resource to others. These two elements will help attract people and build your brand.
  • Create and establish an online presence/brand that genuinely engages others on social media networks. Provide responsive customer service that builds loyal relationships within your target market.
  • Share, impress and promote your expertise. First identify problems in your target market that you can help solve. Then, starting locally, find outlets where you can share your uniqueness and business. Also create your own promotions like a radio show, online video show, become a community speaker, and present workshops.
  • Connect with influencers. Help and support others who have large followings and/or great reputations to add value to your brand. This is a quick way to develop positive buzz about you and/or your brand.
  • Be memorable. You must make an impression on your target market. Stand out by being friendlier, more helpful, having better products or services, more responsive customer service, personalized care and authentic communication to create long lasting relationships.
  • Be active in your community. Use community activities/events/causes to continually remind people about you and/or your brand.
  • Initiate projects. Start locally, sponsor, lead, or organize solution-oriented (that you can help solve) projects that generate positive conversations about your brand.

Your brand should quickly convey who you are and how you help your target market. As your business grows, ask your customers for their feedback to ensure brand recognition and that you’re meeting customer expectations.

How do you build your brand? Would love to read your thoughts and tips in the comments below.

How to Stand Out from Your Competition

How to Stand Out from Your Competition

To succeed in business, you need to set yourself apart from your the competition. That means knowing what makes you great, and communicating it! Successful businesses make this a part of their business culture, and follow through every day. Is your business ready to take the next step?

Here are some factors that can help your business stand out from your competitors:

  1. Deliver great value – Offer excellence for a great price.
  2. Offer more choices in your products/services than your competitors.
  3. Make the sales process more convenient, easier and quicker than your competitors.
  4. Make it easy to find and contact you – use memorable business cards, post information on how to reach you through social media networks, post your cell number and promote testimonials.
  5. Share your sense of passion and excellence for what you do – make sure you come across passionate, caring and willing to do what it takes to earn your customers’ loyalty.
  6. Follow up immediately after the sale and continue on-going follow up.
  7. Anticipate your customers’ needs and help them with solutions.
  8. Ask for feedback and act upon those suggestions.
  9. Continue to improve.
  10. Be a connector and networker – help your customers find solutions to their needs, even before they know what they are, and engage in becoming friends with everyone you meet.
  11. Stay current in your area of expertise – keep up with professional training, industry trends and share innovations with your customers.
  12. Be positive and approach everything with a can-do attitude.
  13. Strive for excellence every day.
  14. Be more personable, friendly and approachable.
  15. Become solution oriented.
  16. Be creative and innovative while also following through.

As you begin to invest your energy into these factors, you’ll find that not only will you begin to stand out in your industry, but you may also be amazed that most will not even try to compete with you.

How do you stand out from your competitors? What makes your business special and unique? We would love to read your tips in the comments below!

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More Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

More Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses

When you’re in business for yourself, marketing is incredibly important. You need to get the word out about your business, and there are specific strategies you can use to market yourself effectively.

Before you begin, have a plan, target audience and goal in mind. For instance, a discount or promotion to reward your loyal clients, or provide free delivery for clients who are new moms is a plan, aimed at a targeted audience and has specific goals. Include in your plan a way to measure your return on investment. This way you’ll know if it worked and how well it worked.

Here are some tips to help you market your business:

  1. Become a contributing expert for a blog or local news media.
  2. Start a Facebook page for your town and be a positive voice for what’s happening in your area.
  3. Start a YouTube channel and provide tours of your town.
  4. Partner with other businesses in your area to increase word of mouth.
  5. Offer workshops, teleseminars or webinars
  6. Display signage on your cars, t-shirts and temporary signs on lawns (with permission).
  7. Organize a charity collection or fund raiser.
  8. Hand out tip cards to solve problems that relate to your business.
  9. Sponsor free car washes.
  10. Sponsor free sidewalk address number painting.
  11. Sponsor a street performer/artist to promote your business.
  12. Promote causes and charities in your area.
  13. Sponsor free workshops to help people in your community, like a math or personal defense workshop.
  14. Make yourself and your business memorable. Be known as the lollipop giver.
  15. Showcase testimonials in your marketing.
  16. Hold special promotions like client of the month.

The best marketing is providing your customers with consistent excellence and memorable service that they’ll tell their friends about.

How do you market your business? Please share in the comments!

How Can Partnerships Grow Your Business?

How Can Partnerships Grow Your Business?

Have you ever considered forming partnerships to grow your business? They can be powerful!

How does entering a partnership help grow your business? Imagine, your local health food store partnering with your local gym, a make-up artist with a wedding dress store, a caterer with a cookware store and an interior decorator with a real estate agency. Imagine the possibilities for your business! And if you’re a new business, what an effective way to promote and build your new business.

Entering partnerships to grow your business

The benefits of partnering with another business:

  • Increase your customer base quickly.
  • Increase word of mouth and exposure in less time.
  • Share business expenses.
  • Provide greater value to your customers.
  • Increase expertise and knowledge.

Here’s your checklist before entering into partnership:

  • Find someone local to partner with.
  • Be completely objective in picking the right partner. (Don’t just pick your friends…be sure it’s a good match for your business.)
  • Find a partner with complementary products or services and not a competitor – for example a shoe store with a clothing store, a vitamin distributor with a health club, or a chocolatier with a wine shop.
  • Know what you want from the partnership, and set goals that you want as outcomes.
  • Write everything down. Clearly state expectations and responsibilities, and consider drawing up a contract.
  • Anticipate and discuss all the challenges and problems before partnering.
  • Start with a single project before doing more together or becoming long term partners.

So if your business is slowing down or needs an injection of new mojo, a partnership might be in your horizon. Follow these tips and make your new partnership a success!

How to Promote Your Business Through Word of Mouth

How to Promote Your Business Through Word of Mouth

The best and most effective way to promote your business is through word of mouth. Isn’t it good to know that the best way to promote your business is also the least expensive?

Here are some tips for promoting your business by word of mouth

  1. Join a local event, get your business in the local media and get people talking positively about your business.
  2. Use social networks to connect with your customers, engage in conversations, use it to provide better customer service, and build relationships and buzz.
  3. Make each interaction with your business a memorable one, and you’ll make your business memorable. Follow up with a thank you call or card. Offer a free branded gift and other memorable services.
  4. Offer your customers an opportunity to comment, or take a poll and act upon their suggestions to create buzz.
  5. Ask loyal customers and local influencers to refer your business to others and give them a reward for it.
  6. Treat your customers like VIPs and share their testimonials wherever you can.
  7. Offer customized/personalized customer service to create a buzz.
  8. Ask for reviews from loyal customers and local influencers.
  9. Once in a while, surprise your customers with extras and tell them to share it with others. Give them a discount that they can share with another to help bring new customers.
  10. Start a campaign to help others in your community and create an online forum to encourage conversation and positive word of mouth.
  11. Become the town “know it all.” Post and host on your site interesting facts about your town and residents to encourage conversations.
  12. Offer contests, start trends and other promotions to generate buzz and build brand recognition.

Be creative and have fun with this. Word of mouth news will spread if it’s fun and helpful!

How are you generating word of mouth for your business? Start here! In the comments, share with us what makes your business unique and great!