How to impress potential new clients with your startup business
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Over the last year, many of us have had some time to pause and take stock of our working life. For some, this has resulted in a career change or going into business for yourself. If you are a new business owner you will be keen to make deals and secure a healthy client list. But with a global marketplace, competition can be tougher than ever to get those lucrative handshakes. Here are some top tips that will help you to impress potential new clients with your business.
Don’t rush
One of the biggest mistakes a new business can commit is trying to run before they can walk. You may have lots of experience in the industry and an excellent array of contacts that can help your business thrive, but you still need to do the groundwork. If a new client looks you up online and sees a ‘website-in-construction’ or no details listed in company directories then they will be wary of going into business with you. Take time to design your website, develop the look of your brand, and ensure you are fully registered as a company before approaching new clients. You want to ensure that you launch with all systems ready to go. By taking a small amount of time to prepare, you will come across as more professional and be more likely to secure high-value clients.
The approach
The approach is when you send that first email or make that tentative enquiring phone call with a potential new client. A well-executed approach sets the tone of the relationship going forward, and gives the client confidence that you will be able to deliver what you promise. The approach should always be targeted. Sending out ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ emails to thousands of mailboxes may be less time consuming than personalized approaches, but it makes your email much more likely to be placed in the junk folder. Research a client, find out the name of the person who can agree to any deal, and make contact directly. Layout exactly how your service can benefit them and why you would be excited to work with their company. Showing a little bit of knowledge about what they do, demonstrates you understand how they operate and have analyzed why you will be a good match. Make sure your email looks slick, and do a couple of test emails from your inbox to ensure the mail appears as you intend it too. If you are phoning then, be prepared with a succinct pitch that quickly lets them know why you are phoning.
Meeting spaces
If your approach is successful, then arrange to meet the new client in person. This will allow you to build personal rapport and to answer any questions they may have. If you are a new start-up without office space, consider joining a co-working space, such as https://beehivelofts.co.uk, that will have professional contemporary meeting spaces. This will look much more impressive than meeting in a cafe and also allows you to enter into a private conversation, making the agreement of a deal there and then, much more likely. During the meeting, layout clearly how your service will help reduce costs for a business or increase their profits. The clearer you can be about the benefits of your service, the more likely you are to secure the contract.
Follow up
After any meeting, always follow up with a phone call or email. An email can recap any discussion points and allows you the opportunity to go into more detail on any outstanding queries they may have. A phone call will allow you to strengthen the personal connection and gauge the clients’ continued interest. Choose your method of follow up, depending on how your meeting went and what you think would be most useful to a client. It is wise to wait a couple of days before following up, but any longer than a week and a client may have moved on to other business.
Referrals
Finally, after the approach, meeting, and follow up, hopefully, a deal will be closed. Once you have completed the work, always ask a satisfied client to offer you a reference quote. These quotes will help you with future approaches to new clients as word of mouth testimony inspires confidence in others. This is especially true if the client is well known in the industry. Before you know it, you will have a busy list of clients. With continued success, you may find clients begin to seek you out, and you will need to approach fewer new clients to keep the profits growing.
