What does your online profile imply about you and your company? It’s no secret that we are living in a digital world. Most consumers do their research and decide on a potential solution to their problem well before they reach out to your business. One study showed that 92% of consumers choose a business with at least a 4.0-star Google review score.
Building a sales and marketing engine to drive growth for your business takes a clear strategy and the right talent to execute that strategy. Here are a few things every business can do to accelerate new customer acquisition.
1) Company reviews: encourage or reward your clients to post a 5-star review. If they are hesitant, uncover what can be done to address their issue or concern in a timely manner. Negative reviews that are left unanswered can drastically reduce the number of potential clients contacting you.
2) Website: read your landing page through the lens of a customer. Is your value proposition statement unique and clear? Can they quickly differentiate what you do better than your competitors? Do you have client testimonials that mirror the potential customers current situation and highlights the positive emotional response your previous client achieved by hiring you? Reduce the number of “we” statements and focus more on the customer benefits.
3) Customer conversion: Where do you get most of your customers? Word of mouth, your website, social media, etc.? Make sure those leads are captured in an efficient way and your team has clear expectations on when the leads should be contacted. Did you know that 86% of customers are lost, or find another provider, if they aren’t contacted within 5 minutes of submitting a request for information?
4) Company story or mission: don’t overlook the importance of telling your company story. People buy from companies they trust and/or they align with the missions, vision and values you stand for. When you support the local community, contribute to charities, or have a purpose bigger than making money you need to highlight those things.
5) Sales and customer support: the fortune is in the follow up. Businesses have increased their closed rates by 46% simply by following up consistently. If you have an inside sales team, consider reducing the amount of time inbound leads are protected for the representatives. This will drive more urgency with the sales team and increase your chance of securing business from interested prospects.
The sales and marketing needs of a business change as the company grows. It’s harder to get the first $1 million in revenue than it is to grow from $1M to $10M. What got you to where you are isn’t what will get you to your next milestone. The infrastructure, processes, and sales / marketing needs continue to evolve as the company grows. If you feel stuck or your revenue has hit a plateau, we are here to provide guidance, consulting, or introductions to experts in our network that can get you back on track.