Where Do You Find The First Customers?
Ask yourself this question: Who most likely either buy from you or send you referrals? Yes, those who know you or you know. How do you approach to tell them about your business? Making a list of people who you want to contact is a start. Here are a fewe questions to stimulate thinking:
- Your friends and their friends
- People from schools: classmates, teachers, club members…etc.
- People you know from work: co-workers, employers and customers
- People from organizations that you also belong to: churches, special interest clubs…etc.
- People who are your contacts in trade associations you’ve been a part of over the years.
- Tradespeople you know: lawyer, pharmacist, doctor, dentist, plumber, insurance agent, hairstylist, mechanic and even your babysitter or nanny.
- Neighbors, past and present
- People you know through sports and hobbies, such as hunting, fishing, running and golf.
- People you know because of your home: lender, real estate agent, builder, installers, handyman…etc.
- Contact you have through families: your own and your spouse’s
We all know alot of people to tell about our business. Now, how do you scan through this list to land your first customers?
- Send a personal letter and follow up with a phone call a week to 10 days later. In this letter, announce your new business. Offer a free consultation or a special discount, something to create interest and excitement in what you’re doing. Perhaps you could offer to pay a “word-of-mouth” fee to those contacts who send you referrals who buy from you.
- Use the telephone. Call some folks to “catch up.” Find out what they’re doing and then share about your business.
- Set up breakfast, lunch or coffee meetings. Set it up as a “feedback session” where you present your product or service in a low-key manner as a way to solicit feedback from the person. At the end of the meeting, ask the person for referrals to people who might benefit from your offering.
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