A business’ clientele is an essential element to its success, and there are two approaches to ensure this success is sustained: retaining your client base, and growing it. The latter is the trickier of the two options - with stiff market competition, many businesses find it difficult to expand the clients they work for. This article will explore the top tips for growing your clientele in a sustainable way.
1. Know Your Market and Target it!
Firstly, to win over and then retain customers you must target effectively based on knowing who your customer is and their reason for buying. This type of information comes from in-depth market research, to try and understand your customers. Often when marketing, the aim is to demonstrate that your product or service can add value to customers. A standardised, poorly researched attempt to reach out will not resonate as well as a company that is shaped around prospective target audiences.
2. Excellent Customer Service to Build Rapport
Loyal customers are worth up to ten times the amount they originally spend. Ensuring enough time is given to respond to customers is essential to showing the friendly, helpful side to a business. This is essentially one of the main criteria prospective clients will look for when choosing a company to work with. Additionally, long-lasting and positive relationships with existing clients can lead to recommendations and testimonials that will help your company build a positive reputation and attract other business.
3. Up-to-date and Relevant Content
Fresh and informative content is a significant means to bring in customers and grow your business. When publishing a blog, news articles or key takeaways from whitepapers online, your website will look professional and current; demonstrating how knowledgeable your business is. Further, using keywords and industry news will contribute towards search engine optimisation, meaning your website will become more visible when people search for the services that you offer.
4. Utilising Social Media
In relation to the above point, keeping the content you post fresh and informative creates a great space for your customer base to grow. On social media this is particularly effective through conversation and brand promotion, often without consumers realising they are building your brand for you! And put simply, building your brand will build your client base.
5. Support Existing Clients
Loyal customers are worth up to ten times the amount they originally spend. It is important to ensure that you do not just focus on new customer acquisition at the expense of existing customer loyalty and retention: this is because both are important for growing your client base in a sustainable way. Looking for new business opportunities is the key goal, and this can come from existing client recommendation as well as through mediums such as social media and content marketing.
6. Monitor and Measure What Works
Lastly, monitoring what works when trying to expand and grow is vital to understand which sources offer the most value. By doing this you can refine your existing efforts and try new approaches. It is important to try new ways of reaching your audience as your business adapts to new clients and evolves. You may start out with marketing based purely on word of mouth but then must adapt, once you are more established, and use other sources as well: such as Google ads, social media or content marketing.
Considering these top tips and revisiting your business plan is a great place to start when focussing on building your client base. If you would like any help with putting together your business plan, please get in touch! Contact us online using the form on the right or call 01604 420 420.