The Sunday Mail
“Quality performance starts with positive attitude.” – Jeffrey Gitomer
Great products or services and great marketing strategies mean nothing when there is no one to market to.
Avoiding losing customers is superb but adding new ones re-ignites the business. In business, when old relationships die, new ones must be birthed to ensure continuity.
However, like a cycle, new prospects must fill the void left by old customers.
The organisation’s representatives must always be on the hunt for new customers. Here are a few ideas that can be used to prospect for new customers:
- Networking
Business representatives must be able to mix and mingle with people from all walks of life when they look for new customers.
Networking can be done using personal connections. Potential customers prefer to connect with people that they know. It is also easier for them to build trust with them.
People usually use face-to-face interactions when networking but due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, these are no longer always possible.
Networking helps organisations offer a personalised experience to their prospective customers. Representatives must make an effort to find where they can connect and engage with their target market.
For instance, local businesspeople popularly network at golf sessions and other gatherings.
However, there are also many business networking associations that can be used.
- Old flames can reconcile
Although some customers may leave for competitors, it is important to try to win them back. Getting new customers may be expensive, hence, it is cheaper for businesses to lure back old customers and do business with the devil that they know. Not all decisions made by customers to leave an organisation may turn out to be the best – some customers may leave to protest some dissatisfaction at the hands of the organisation.
If their grievances are addressed, they are likely to resort to their traditional suppliers. When Schweppes changed the ingredients in the Mazoe brand without notifying their target market, there was an outcry and a subsequent boycott of the product. But when they reverted to their old recipe, the old patrons returned.
- Social media presence
Social media is omnipresent and a majority of customers have both business and personal social media accounts. Businesses that want to reach new customers at a lower cost can start off by creating social media accounts where their target market are likely to be found. Since social media has a wider reach, organisations tend to gain huge exposure to a lot of prospective customers. It must, however, be noted that some customers are put off by organisations that are not found on any social media platforms. I, for one, have observed that business enquiries done on their official pages are responded to in real time. Customers prefer organisations that can be readily reached at a minimum cost, and respond to their queries instantaneously, and this can only be possible if the organisation has social media accounts that are well managed.
- Know your competition
Success is inevitable when you know who you are competing with. It gives you information on their strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats, and this can be used to acquire new customers. Some time ago, industry giants like Dairibord, Lobels, TelOne, CSC, etc, were overtaken by competitors because they were comfortable as market leaders while their challengers were capitalising on their weaknesses. Customers will always deal with companies that offer the latest trends. If you snooze, you lose. Whatever your competitor does, do it better.
- Be on the lookout for more customers
The lifecycle of customers differs from one customer to another and it is only proper for organisations to always have replacement customers. The gap left by old customers can be filled by new customers. If resources and capabilities permit, an organisation is free to get newer prospects that they are able to serve satisfactorily. There is no need for organisations to take on board customers that they are not capable to serve. Resources and capabilities must align with the correct number of customers.
Some customers are lost along the journey, hence new customers will always be needed.
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments, suggestions and training, she can be reached on [email protected] or on 0712 979 461.
