[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1548289356400{background-color: #bcbcbc !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”4625″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1753489283337{padding-right: 19px !important;padding-left: 19px !important;}”]There are essentially five important steps to grow your business. The first step is to keep the customers you have. It is much more expensive to get new customers than to keep the ones you have. Proactively communicating with your customers builds relationships but most business owners are waiting for their customers to call them. This will not grow your business.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]

Chapter 13: Five Ways to Grow Your Business

Early in my consulting career I spoke with a business owner who loved to sell. He enjoyed going out and getting new customers to buy his product, and he was constantly on the hunt for more business. He was struggling with bringing new business in, however, due to a saturated market. What he had failed to do was take into consideration all his previous business and the good customers that he had done business with in the past. He was so intent on bringing new business in that he had neglected his current and past customers. I bet his competition loved this.

There are essentially five ways to grow your business. We will take a brief look at all five:

1. Keep the customers you have: Your current customer base is the best way to grow your business. After all, they already know you, like you, and trust you. They are used to doing business with you, and if you are performing well, they will be reluctant to switch. How do you keep the customers you have? By communicating with them more often. Do not wait for your customers to contact you, which is usually when they have a problem. Be proactive and contact your customers. Think about it. If you are not contacting your customers, you can bet your competition is; and if your customers have not heard from you, what is to prevent them from switching their business to the individual who is showing interest in them? Revenue growth is a proactive activity, meaning you have to take the initiative to reach out and contact your customers and let them know you are thinking about them.
2. Sell more to the customers you have: Your current customers already are doing business with you and likely would do more business with you if you asked them, but business owners seldom ask if there is anything else that they can do to help their customers. Often business owners have other products or services that the customer could buy from them, but the customers have forgotten about those offerings. You have to keep reminding them of the other products and services you provide.
3. Sell more often to the customers you have: Business owners can often sell more frequently to their existing customer base, but if they are not contacting them and are just waiting for the phone to ring, then such sales are unlikely. This is another reason to be proactive and contact your customers.
4. Get new customers: New customer acquisition is one of the most expensive ways to get new customers. Think about how much time it takes to not only find, but to get a new customer to try you and to build up their business to a reasonable level. The customer acquisition cost is probably much higher than you think.
5. Get rid of the problem customers or low-value customers: These are the customers that continually cause you grief and take you away from interacting and building on the relationships you have with your good customers. It is probably taking more time than you think and causing you more stress than necessary. The best place for your problem customers is with your competition.

The equation is pretty simple. If you want to sell more, communicate more with your customers. If you want to sell less, communicate less with your customers.

Success Steps

1. Keep the good customers you already have.
2. Be proactive and contact your customers current, past, and potential.
3. How can you better serve them and meet their needs?
4. How can you deliver more value to them than your competition does?
5. What other products or services do you offer that they have probably forgotten about?

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It’s Not Hard, It’s Business

Fundamental Steps to help business owners learn what it takes to grow their business and increase their revenue.

As the former GM and COO of a $40 million company with seven locations I have learned what it takes to be successful in business. In this book, I share some keys to sustainable business growth and acceleration and the way to close the gap between your performance and your dreams.

You didn’t go into business to just get by, you got into it to succeed. Follow our series on the website and get your desktop reference copy from Amazon.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4271″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]

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