3 WAYS TO GROW YOUR SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE OR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE (1)

Because it's purpose is to create a Customer, the Business has two - and only two functions: Marketing and Innovation. Marketing and Innovation produce results - all the rest are costs.

You have probably heard that there are only three ways to grow any business or professional practice. Yes, you heard right.

1.      Increase your number of customers.

2.      Increase your average transaction value.

3.      Increase the frequency of repurchase.

So, the million dollar question – how do you as owner of a small business enterprise increase the number of your customers, their average transaction value, and the frequency of their repurchase from your business? The average owners of small businesses spend a small fortune trying to get new customers to buy their products, or to get a bigger percentage of market share. Great move! 

But the average owner of a small business probably don’t know that the cost of getting a new customer is significantly higher than the cost of getting existing customers to buy more, or getting them to buy more often. Think about it. How do you get new customers to buy your products - friends and relations? people referred to you by friends, relations or existing customers? What about advertising in offline media such as radio, television, press and public relations?  And online advertising in such media as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and You Tube? Did you estimate the costs, and pitch them against the results in sales? 

The point being made here is that it is great to increase the number of new customers and new business, but it cost you significantly less if you can get more business from your existing customers. So, how do you get new customers if you don't already have existing customers. The following are 10 of the best strategies to grow the number of your new customers.

1. UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION: Your unique selling proposition is the statement that communicates your most powerful benefit or the unique advantage that clients are likely to get from buying your product, or by doing business with you. What is your business' unique selling proposition? What value do you offer or intend to offer in your business that customers cannot get elsewhere? What product add-ons can you offer that your competitors are not offering? The easiest way to find out is to study your competitors to discover what they are not offering, but which you can offer profitably. Incorporate this add-on in your product, and ensure that you communicate the fact in every one of your communication with customers or prospects alike.
2. DIRECT MAIL: Direct Mail is extremely important to your business growth. Direct Mail is your ever-ready staff that works 24 hours, 7 days a week and can land in the homes, offices or the pleasures spots of the intended recipients of your email.In the recent past, businesses write thousands of physical letters and mail to thousands of businesses to communicate their product offerings to their 'Probable Purchasers'. Several hundreds of these letters are probably never read, get trashed, or got lost in the post. Today, however, businesses can save themselves the expense and the headaches of worrying whether their mails are getting to their desired audience, by simply changing their Direct Mailing method to Electronic Mailing or simply E-mails. The objective is to constantly provide your clients information about your new products, education about your existing products and information about your special offers, if you have any. To be successful in emailing, you need a Qualified List; a Mail Client and a Copywriter. 
3. TELEMARKETING: Telemarketing is most useful behind an email you have sent out. After you have emailed a prospect or customer for 3 or 4 times, you can call behind that letter to enquire how the prospect or customer received your mail, provide more informations, or receive feedback. Used properly behind an email, telemarketing is a very powerful tool indeed. A subset of of telemarketing is text messaging by sending message directly through your mobile network provider, or sending messages on free platforms such as Whatsapp, Instagram or Yahoo Messenger.
4. PUBLIC RELATIONS: Public Relations is the medium that offer you the benefits of advertising without spending money on advertising media. There are several journals, magazines, publications, radios and television programs that are looking for contents, ideas and information. Present your information and ideas to them, and help them see how your information can help improve the lives of their audience, and you are in business - getting free exposure for your products while providing service to the media you have chosen.
5. REFERRAL:  Referral is also referred to as word-of-mouth advertising.  To make referral work for your business as a great source of business, you need to develop a system - your own referral system. The objective of a referral system is to get your customers to regularly refer their friends, relations, co-workers and acquaintances to do business with you, or to buy your products. If you have a great referral in place, you could turn your customers into great brand ambassadors who sells your products far beyond where your marketing efforts can reach.
6. JOINT VENTURES: Joint Ventures is a great way to boost your sales and increase your business. It provides you with a lever to utilize the resources and good will of other people or businesses to sell your product or service. Ask yourself this question - who in my marketing area is already selling to the people that I am trying to sell to. Contact them, make them see why it is advantageous to them to recommend their customers to buy your products or service. Then sit back and watch your revenue grow.
7. RISK REVERSAL: This is a very powerful concept. When two or more people get together to do business, without saying so, one party is asking the other party to assume more of the risks than they are willing to take. If you are asking your prospects to buy your products without prior history of performance, you are asking them to assume the risk. By guaranteeing or reversing that risk, you are giving the prospects more opportunities to buy your products first time, and providing them a reason to continue to do so.
   
   Example of Risk Reversal is saying that customers can test your product for 30 days FREE before they make payments for it; or offer to refund their money back if in 30 days, they are dissatisfied with your products.
8. ADVERTISING: In our experience, small business owners will rush to do advertising, especially in the mass media - radio, television, newspapers and billboards - once their products are ready, or at least when they think so. Given the costs of all advertising, our first advice is that you should do paid advertising only when you have something to say or offer. Our second advice is that you should choose your media of advertising that is able to allow your customers to directly respond to you, to seek clarifications, answers and information.Effective Advertising is not a one-way road, but a two-way street.
9. SPECIAL EVENTS AND INFORMATION NIGHT: This is a great way to acknowledge your customers for past patronages, and an easy way to get them to bring you free referrals. Organize an event to showcase your products, provide information about new offerings and reinforce their knowledge about existing products. Offer your customer and prospects an opportunity to attend a social event at your expense - provide good food and some light entertainment - then invite respected figures in your industry or some influencers to speak, eulogizing your products. Ask your customers and prospects to bring their spouses and invite their friends as well. It will probably cost you some money, but the benefits in more business will far outweigh your investment in costs.
   
10. ACQUIRING CUSTOMERS AT BREAK-EVEN COST BUT MAKING A PROFIT AT BACK-END: If you sell a product or service that has a high prospect of repurchase such as subscriptions, offer to sell to your customers at a price much lower than you normally would. This gets them into your radar, and when they come back for repurchases, your savings on advertising costs, new customer acquisition and the possibility of selling other products will help compensate for the profit you lose on the initial sale.

In our next article, we will expand more on how increase your average transaction value per customer and how to increase the frequency of repurchase by your customers. Till when next we meet, Keep selling, Keep sailing.