If getting customers feels painful, there is still hope! (Part 2)

Last month in part one of this article, I talked about five ways that you can use to start getting customers that are easier to implement and take some of the pain out of getting them. Those five things were - find your Ideal 100 List, have TOMA, look for Fusion partners, must have referrals, and be clear about who you are. I heard from some of you and you have started putting those in place. This month we will look at five additional ways to take your business all the way this year.

The next one we are looking at plays somewhat off the fifth one.

It is idea six which is to develop a CORE STORY. This story is going to be the focus of everything you market in your business.

Now this one is a little tougher to do and takes a little time. But once you have it, it will put you so far ahead of the others that customers will just have to do business with you. A core story starts with research. It means you are going to find out about the industry you serve. The information that you find should include history and the way things used to be. It should include how many were in business in a certain year. It should tell what they offered then. It should then be brought up to date and how things are now. What you want to do is find the reasons that your prospect should do business with you. You want them to know the story of how hard things are now, what is making them struggle and why. And of course you want them to understand why you are the solution to make their woes go away. You are trying to educate them to the ways things are; how they are feeling and how you can make that feeling change to something good. I mean if you can’t help that customer then why would they be buying from you anyway? Right?

This core story needs to be so powerful; it needs to create a reaction in the buyer.

It needs to provide them with education. And it needs to show the benefits and solutions that are created by doing business with you. If you have incorporated all of those things into the core story, they will come and they will buy from you. It is a hugely significant way to get more customers. Again let’s take an example of this. Let’s go back to the beauty products from last month’s article. So you do some research and you find that in the past people started aging and really showing wrinkles at the age of 35 let’s say. And let’s say there was only regular lotion available to help with that and that was mostly made of water. The customer is starting to see the way it was and how bad it was. Now you bring them up to date. People are aging faster and it is so much worse because of the pollutions and the chemicals in what we eat. Now they are really starting to feel the pain. Then you tell them how your product is the perfect solution to stop the damage that was already done and keep new damage from being done. Then you tell them about all the great ingredients, etc. You have educated the customer. You have given them something to think about. You have made them have hope again because of your product. This will bring you customers. This will give you a way to succinctly distinguish yourself from the others. Oh, let me tell one more story of how effective this is. Back in the day, Schlitz beer was way down in the line of known beers but I thought it was interesting story how they brought themselves way up in the ratings in the early 1900’s. What they did was start telling people how their beer was made. They talked about how even though they were on Lake Michigan, they still go way into the earth to get the purest water, and they go to Bohemia to get their hops, they filter not only the beer but the air that is around it, they age it for months in refrigerated rooms, etc. By educating their buyers, beer drinkers started thinking they were getting this incredibly pure beer. At first the powers that be, didn’t want to do the ad because they said, that is how everyone makes their beer. True but no one else was telling the customers that. That ad shot them to the very top of their market! You see the truth is always out there but if people aren’t educated to what it is and how you can help then they don’t know how to make their buying decision.

So now the seventh way to get customers is something I spend lots of time doing and lots of time writing and speaking about because I feel it is such an important part of getting new customers. And that is to NETWORK.

I have seen it time and time again where someone has a store front and people walk by it all day and don’t even notice it is there. Then when that company has a representative start networking, suddenly this store is an obvious part of the scenery every time you are in that area. People don’t even know some types of businesses exist until they go to a networking meeting and find someone who is doing that certain thing. Often you have a need for something in your business and you are not sure who you should use for that type of business and you meet someone at a networking meeting and then you suddenly know that is the right person for you. I think everyone is good at doing this some of the time. But that is just not enough.

You have to be out there every week, some place talking about your business.

We have a tendency to some times get enough customers that we feel comfortable and so we think we no longer have to network. But what if you suddenly lose 10 customers or a company goes out of business and you lose 100 customers. Things happen, you have to be prepared.

Because if you think well I will just start networking again, most the time you have lost a ton of momentum. You have to start back over and you are the new guy on the block. So it might take you weeks or even months to start getting recognized again. Then people can start trusting you again and you will get new customers. But if you are always out there in the game, out there meeting new people, new prospects, then you will still be at a top of mind awareness for people and they can recommend you or use you themselves. To me it is not an option, it is a necessity. Quick note on networking, please build relationships, don’t just try to pass out the most cards or sell people. Networking is about making connections. Enough said.

The eighth way to get customers is to narrow down your market and get a true NICHE and become AN EXPERT in your field.

Some people have such a fear of doing this. They are afraid if they narrow down their market then they are not going to have enough people to market to. Just the opposite is true. When you try to sell to everyone you miss everyone. No one can get you or get who you are or who you help. I especially see this in the direct marketing and coaching fields. People are so desperate to get customers they try to sell to everyone or coach everyone and then they become watered down, not unique individuals that no one is attracted to work with. This is not good. So what I would say to you is take what you do, figure out who are your ideal customers that you would like to work with, that you enjoy being around the most. Because if you have to work with people you might as well really have fun while you are doing it. Next you take those people and figure out what their specific needs are so that you can become the expert in the results they want based on their needs. A nice example of this is marketers or pr people. So often the agencies or individuals are willing to work with everyone. So there is a lot of time working with trying to understand the customer, what they are trying to get across and how they work. And then they develop the marketing and hope it works. Yet if you take a niche group, say spa owners and you become the expert on what people are looking for from spas, how these people do business, what works well and what doesn’t, what the market is willing to pay, etc. then you are way ahead of the game.

You have become an expert and that is who people want to work with.

They want someone who is laser focused, quick to know them, understands them completely and is able to make their marketing and pr really work. By narrowing you can get all or most of the customers in that niche market you have chosen rather than getting a few of everybody. Get serious about this and really take the time to figure this out. Every month you are just out there for everyone is a month you have lost a lot of sales and lost the opportunity to become the expert in the field.

The ninth way to get more customers is focused on three things; thought, feelings, and action. This is a concept that is very old and yet people are just awakening to its’ potential.

What I am talking about is the Law of Attraction.

You have all recently over the last year heard a lot more about this. It was on Larry King Live, on Oprah two weeks in a row, and just showing up everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you believe in it or not, it is still going to be out there working and you need to take advantage of it. With law of attraction it goes beyond the positive thinking aspect that a lot of us grew up with. It is taking what we want and clearly stating with feeling what the outcome should be. What do so many of us do when we are trying to find more customers? We state things like; ‘I hate marketing’, ‘I don’t like searching for customers’, ‘Getting customers feels painful to me’ (had to do that one though to get your attention), ‘why would they want to buy from me’, etc.

That is putting up such a barrier between you and your prospects that it is very hard to convert them into customers. Pretty much they have to be part of the top 3% that is absolutely looking to buy to get past that negative energy we are putting out there. Think about it, do you really want to sell to someone who is not right for you anyway? Probably not!

So know that you are only looking for people that you are a right fit for them and can give them what they want and need.

So knowing that, it should be very easy to change your thinking around and only put out that which you are wanting. So your feelings and thoughts should be wrapped around how you are a benefit to your customer. You want to be thinking; ‘large amounts of customers are coming to me with ease and joy’, or ‘I am finding my ideal customers effortlessly’. What ever feeeeels right to you that is what you want to use. I can’t put a percentage, or number, or price on this, all I can do is tell you that it works. Which ever way you think about getting customers that is what it will be for you. When I first started using this within one week, suddenly two of my past customers starting working with me again and another customer paid me even before calling or emailing me that she wanted to work with me. How often does that happen? It can happen more often based on your conscious focus on what you DO want.

The tenth customer attractor is WORK WITH THE BEST.

This one can work for you whether you are an employer with 100’s of employees or a solopreneur. What this is all about is finding resources that can help you get customers. Doesn’t that sound nice? And it really isn’t that hard. One way to do this is to find someone that used to be in your industry that has now retired. More and more people are bored with retirement and want something to do with their time. So if you find the previous experts in your field, they know ways to get customers, plus they often have their own resources they can refer to that will help you quickly get new customers. You can hire them full time if that is what you find works for them or you. Or if you are on a low budget find the ones that are just wanting to work a few hours to give them something to do. This way you will see them in action, they help you get customers and you also learn some new skill sets based on what they are doing. What a wonderful way to help out both parties. The opposite end of that, but something that can be just as effective is to find college students who are studying business, or pr, or something that relates to your business. They are going to have the latest, greatest information on what is happening in the market place. Plus if you find the go getters they are going to have lots of enthusiasm and energy to helping you find customers and grow your business. This also gives them an opportunity to put into practice what they are learning and this is a hugely important factor. Now this will also give you different options on how you can afford to bring someone on staff especially if you are a new company or a solopreneur. So what you can do is give them a small salary that at least helps them out. Pay them on commission if you have a business that will fit to work with that, or it may be that they just do an internship with you so they begin to learn the business. There is even the option of applying so they get they get credit for working for you but there is a lot of red tape in making that happen. Again though you have a way of getting the help you need to find more customers and they get a way to do what they want to do anyway. It is a success/success situation!

Okay you are going to get a bonus way to get customers.

The bonus way to get new customers is using PRESS RELEASES.

I want to say this is a really underused resource. And it is but I know that there is a lot more of it happening now. A press release is just letting the newspaper, radio stations and local television stations know you have something hot going on with your business. It can be an event that you are having, especially if it is something that goes with what is going on with the news at that time. It may be that you have just gotten a big account or have become part of another big business. Anything that is interesting to the listener/reader and still gently promotes who you are, you need to be sending out press releases so that people know about it. In general you should be finding something exciting to share with your local paper at least once a month. You have to keep your name in front of people so you get the ‘ah ha, I have heard of them’ recognition. Anything you know is going to be happening that is bigger news get to the radio and television stations way ahead of time. You should know the names and numbers and emails of all the local places you can send a press release so that if you have something big come up you can quickly get this to them. Also if something in the news happens that relates to what you do, you can quickly call or email them to let them know you are an expert in whatever is happening so they can use you as a person who knows more about the headlined item. Remember sometimes when you are doing a press release you may be only doing it locally but it may be picked up by other syndications. Something else you want to think about with this is even though your business may be real estate broker or something, if you do something that is good for the community you need to let the press know because even if it doesn’t have to do with your business, if people recognize you, there is a better chance of them doing business with you. Also in all of your marketing you can use the fact that you were on a local television station, it gives you creditability and you again become the expert.

There are so many ways to get customers. Using just one or two is never enough.

But it also should never feel painful or be hard to get to customers. You just need to find the things that work for you. So whether it is working with your Ideal 100, or Stack Marketing, or just getting clear about who you are, there are ways to find customers much easier. These strategies once put into place will give you growth year after year. And you find the joy in doing business again and being successful the way you have always wanted to be.

Laura Johnson is a Certified Comprehensive Coach and a Dynamic Speaker who helps her clients/customers get more clients/customers and make more money. She loves to speak on this topic as well as self motivation, taking control of your life and much more. Her goal is to make this THE most successful year for her clients/customers. You need to go to www.makeyourpromotionhappen.com right now and find out how you can be part of the crowd that is going to have their most successful year!

Laura has been helping people promote themselves since 1984. She really believes in what she does and loves to help people create success! Laura believes that being aware and taking action are two skills that will drive your success. If you are a business owner and would like to take the Action survey, please go to Action Survey.