Show notes
When I think in terms of building a client base proactively, to me, that means deciding in advance, what type of clients do I want? What types of clients do I not want? And then really going about putting together the processes and strategies that are necessary to attract exactly that type of customer.
David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. Today, co-host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing the topic of growing your client base proactively. Welcome, Jay.
Jay: Hey, thank you for having me on. I'm super excited about today's topic.
David: It's great to have you here.
Jay: Yeah. And I know this is a big question for businesses. I've heard the phrase. "If you're not growing, you're dying" So growth is a constant thing that you have to be thinking about. How do you do that proactively?
Overcoming the Day to Day
David: It's a great question because so often we get caught up in the day-to-day of what's going on. Particularly in the early stages of a business, when you don't have as much business as you need, it can be really scary. What a lot of people tend to do is they just sort of default to whatever it is that they think is going to bring in business. And they lose sight of the fact that if they aren't proactive about it, you can really fall into bad patterns that can create problems and perpetuate a cycle where you're not generating the revenue that you need to grow and scale.
Jay: Yeah, this is such important information because I think most people don't start a business because they know how to grow a business. They start a business because I have a great recipe and I'm going to put it in a food truck. Or I'm an attorney even, and I've learned the law or a dentist or a doctor. Those people are not trained or taught how to grow their business. They're taught how to do their craft. So this is outside of anything they've been taught.
David: It's really funny because there was an electrician here earlier today at our house. He was taking care of some things. And we were having exactly this conversation. Because he used to work for another electrical firm. He decided to start his own business. And we started talking about "what they don't teach you in electrical school" essentially. Right?
There's More to Growing Your Client Base Proactively
I know how to do electrical work, but do I know how to find customers? Do I know how to find the right customers? Do I know how to handle the billing and do collections and hire and fire and do all the other things that become necessary when you have a business. It's a whole different set of skills. But you're right. And from the standpoint of our topic today, in terms of growing proactively, a lot of business owners really don't know how to go about that. They don't know how to do it, which is the reason we're having this conversation today.
Jay: Yeah. It can be so daunting. So where do you start? I mean, you know, so many ideas, you got social media, you've got all of these different tools available to you. Where do you begin?
David: Well, I think for a lot of people, if you want to take a strategic approach, you want to think in terms of the types of clients, you actually want to have. The types of customers that you enjoy interacting with. By and large, these are going to be people who are pleasant to deal with. They're people who have money and aren't afraid to spend it. They're people who appreciate the value you bring to the table. And a lot of times we don't even think of that.
Taking Just Anybody
Again, particularly in the early stages, if somebody is willing to pay us for what we do, we're like, "okay, great, I'll take it!" And I think that can really be a mistake. Because it can lead us to establishing the type of client base that we might not want to interact with on an ongoing basis. So when I think in terms of building a client base proactively to me, that means deciding in advance, what types of clients do I want? What types of clients do I not want? And then really going about putting together the processes and strategies that are necessary to attract exactly that type of customer.
Jay: Yeah. I love that. So defining who your customer is. And how do you do that? I'm guessing some brainstorming? Taking a look at your current clientele, the customers that you really like working with compared to the ones that you really don't like working with? Is that kind of the process?
David: Yeah. When you've got the benefit of having a customer base and you know which customers you like, and which ones you don't. You know which ones are great to deal with and which ones aren't. Then it does become a lot easier to do that. You say, okay, well I've found that if I'm selling business-to-business, for example, people in this particular industry seem to be more receptive. People with these particular titles within this type of industry seem to be more receptive. One of the things that we've talked about a lot in the print and promotional products industries, where we do a lot of work, is that purchasing people seem to be generally less fun to deal with than people who are in sales and marketing or business owners, that type of thing. Because they have different motivations. And this is something else that people don't think about very often.
Motivating a Client Base to Buy
David: What is the motivation for the person to buy from me? A business owner is going to be likely to want to buy things that are going to help that person to grow the business. Whereas a purchasing agent is just going to say, "who can provide it the cheapest?"Who can deliver it the quickest? And are they already on my preferred vendor list? Because if they are, I'd rather not have to interact with somebody else." So a lot of that goes into the mix as well. So identifying what types of customers, where are they located? Am I dealing with people in a geographic area? Am I dealing with people in particular niche industries? What is it? And at least starting to come up with an idea of the types of clients that you want to attract. Now, that doesn't mean that's all I'm going to take.
David: At some point, you, you may be able to get to that point. And the sooner the better really. But it's not always possible right upfront. So you decide what types of clients you want. You target those people proactively. Whether it is through social media. However, you decide that you want to target them. For some people, if you're selling to a particular niche industry, you can put together a list of various businesses that meet those criteria. Businesses of a particular size in a particular geographic area, in a particular niche. And you can target them that way. But the main thing is starting with that idea of "who would I ideally like to work with and who would I like to proactively leave to my competitors?" And that becomes a key as well. There are going to be clients that you're better off leaving to your competitors. The types of clients who are not going to be as delightful to work with. The people who do not appreciate the value you bring to the table. You almost leave them as landmines for competition to stumble across once you've identified them.
Next Steps to Growing Proactively
Jay: So I've identified my clientele. I know who I'm going to go after. What's the next step once I absolutely know what type of customer I want?
David: Well, one of the first things that we really focus on is what I refer to as First Contact. What will my first contact with these prospects be? So in a situation if you're selling B2B and you've decided on a particular market, you've decided on a particular type of prospect, then you ask yourself, "okay, what is my first contact going to be?" Is it going to be a cold call? Is it going to be a direct mailing? Am I just going to stop in? What am I going to do? Many times people don't give this enough thought. There are businesses who have been in business forever. And they just basically say, "okay, well, we're just going to pick up the phone and start smiling and dialing. We're just going to do cold calls.
David: And they don't realize that cold calls are not the only way to initiate first contact with people. So you really want to think through this. In our Total Market Domination course, we really focus on different types of first contact. Asking yourself, "okay, based on the audience that you want to attract, what is an ideal form of first contact? What will not just get you in touch with that person, but position you the way that you want to be positioned. And for most people, a cold call is not going to position you the way that you would ideally want to be positioned.
Positioning Yourself with Your Client Base
David: Because if you're calling me on the phone, I may think, "okay, you have too much time on your hands if you're cold calling me on the phone. Whereas if I find you... If I discover you and call you, and it's my idea to buy from you, that's better from your standpoint. Because you're the expert and I'm coming to you as being the expert in what you do. That's also better for me because my mindset is right. It's not a situation where somebody is calling me and I'm on the defensive trying to figure out why are they calling me. And trying to come up with every excuse in the book, not to buy from them.
Jay: So what are some of those ideas? I love the idea of first contact. What are some of those ideas besides just the cold call?
David: Well, some of the things that we touched on. I mean, some people can initiate first contact through a direct mail piece. It could be lumpy mail. As I mentioned, we do a lot of stuff with people in the promotional products industry. If you were to send somebody, in the mail, a self-promotion item, that type of thing can get their attention.