Carolin, Petterson, Negosentro | Isn’t it wonderful seeing your business flourish beyond the limits of your wildest dreams?
Easier said than done.
The ugly truth is that the majority of small businesses don’t live long enough to see their sales drive up and eventually, they end up crushed.
In order to avoid this scenario, your business has to be nurtured from its very first steps.
The following tactics are the gist of a solid business system. You are more likely to get your business up and running smoothly if you start applying them.
Market expansion
Sometimes, the word-of-mouth tactic just doesn’t cut it. There are a few other advertising methods helpful for extending the market reach.
- Magazine advertising. Niche-specific magazines are a perfect means of reaching out to your target audience. Market segmentation will tell you which magazines your potential customers might be reading and you can advertise your business accordingly.
- Business cards. Instead of your name being the most prominent element of it, a business card should be a vehicle for the entire business. It should reflect your brand image, the firm’s logo, and all the other relevant elements to solidify your brand identity.
- Social media channels. This is such an imperative that very few businesses succeed in attracting new customers without advertising on social media.
- Cross-promotion. Once you realize how much you can benefit from other businesses, you won’t hesitate to offer your customer base and get theirs in return. This is done through partnering with non-competing brands (influencers) or competing ones (joint media appearances).
The importance of branding
Time and time again, experts have highlighted the value of a strong brand image. While all digital channels used for branding come in extremely handy, tangible objects with your brand name and logo all over them are nothing short of useful.
This may include corrugated carton boxes, vehicle advertising, or even direct mail.
Nurture customer loyalty
Existing customers are often those that are easier to win back again. Cold-pitching takes additional time and effort but the warm leads you already have are more likely to keep coming back.
Therefore, treat them kindly and show them respect. Offer customer loyalty programs, be responsive to their requests and emails, and try using any of the customer relationship management systems available.
One of the benefits of using CRM is that every interaction between a customer and your representative enters the database. When that customer calls again, they will be redirected straight to that same rep. It is obvious how this can create a bond between your brand and the customers!
Mind the numbers
A healthy financial plan can go a long way. Forecasting the sales and creating financial models will help you track the expenses in real time and minimize unnecessary costs.
In addition to that, if your business experiences a sudden growth, you will learn the importance of closely monitoring the cash flow. It makes your business liquid and enables you to achieve objectives.
Develop a better service
If you are still in the dark about what your customers need, you can check what your competition is doing. Instead of just copying everything they do, put your ego aside and learn from them.
Another valuable method is surveying your customers. It is much easier to find out firsthand what you’re doing wrong or right.
All of these aspects need to be planned out thoroughly and you will often have to plan even one step ahead. Anticipating all possible scenarios and preventing them from happening will secure a solid foundation for your business and boost its growth.
