Attract Clients During a Recession

Attract Clients During A Recession

Have your phones stopped ringing yet? The economy is lagging and dragging. We've felt the effects in the United States. Now we're seeing global implications. So, how do you tackle economic uncertainty? Cut advertising, travel, training, marketing, and discretionary expense line items? Cut purchasing? Ouch! The pipeline starts to dry up and the anxiety level goes through the roof.

Many people think that since there's nothing they can do, they should just do nothing. But "nothing" is futile thinking.

What If You Could Reach Your Market Without Incurring Any Hard Costs?
The only budget you need to worry about is simply your time. Your time to ask for referrals! You know about referrals. When a qualified prospect is referred the chances of that prospect becoming a client is between 70 and 90 percent. Additionally, we are pre-sold. Selling time decreases. Credibility increases. And, we ace out the competition.

Results are the only thing that matters. And, now you will be able to achieve results simply by implementing the following 8 "Killer" strategies.

8 "Killer Steps" to Attracting New Business in a Lagging Economy

1. Broaden Your Perspective - What business are you in? Redefine and reinvent yourself. Determine how you can create a leap in demand for your products and services. Build new alliances and consider alternate distribution channels. Don't go solo. It's important to assemble a group of advisors and get their input and creative ideas. Include people who have differing points of view from you. Not easy, but critical.

2. Be Nimble and Innovative -You'll never have all the facts. Make quick decisions. Be fearless and make tough choices. Create new uses for your products. Why not a new business model?

3. Dazzle Your Current Customers - Your current customers need care and feeding. Don't ignore them at the expense of new business, because they are your best source for new business.

4. Prioritize Wisely - The most important activity for any salesperson is to do what's "closest to cash" the first thing every single day-whether it's following up with a prospect, writing a proposal, or closing a deal.

5. Become an Expert Company - hire experts because they can't afford to make mistakes. Position your company as the expert with a specific product or in a specific market niche. Become an expert and people will be more likely to refer you.

6. Stay Connected - If you want to get more referrals you have to network like crazy. Attend a minimum of one event a week. You never know who you will meet and what you will learn. Never let your network go down. Networking is an essential referral marketing activity. So go make connections and build your business. Talk to people and find out how you can help them. How is their business doing? Are they impacted by the lagging economy? How? Don't email, call. You make connections by talking to people and by spending the time to have a robust conversation.

7. Don't Cut Prices, Increase Value - There's a lot of chatter about cutting prices in a lagging economy. Many small business owners think businesses are cutting back, so prospects don't have money for their projects. But, by cutting prices, you're cutting your profits even further. Instead, consider how to "get in and get started." Divide your offering into smaller chunks, get results, and create traction. Or, give more value. When you offer high-value products and services, people will refer you and you will get more sales, even in a recession economy.

8. Commit to Building Your Referral Business - Referrals are always terrific, but they mean even more in a lagging economy. Don't let the lagging economy trickle down on you. Take charge and make your phone ring again! Let your prospects know how much you care about them. Tell and show just how much you appreciate their business. Inform them that you'd like to help people just like them. And, don't forget to thank your prospects and clients for their referral.

Follow these tips and you will get more referrals. You will attract new business. You will get more clients. You will accelerate your sales. And, you will achieve higher results without increasing your cost of sales. In fact, there's a great chance that you will decrease your costs!

Strategies That Can Amplify Your Press Coverage

Kreative Group, Inc. uses these straightforward strategies to amplify press coverage:

• Photos and graphics. A good or interesting photograph (or video) can win you significantly more editorial space and you can bet most people will look at the picture before the read the text.
• Offer a briefing or interview. Talk to the writer as she is writing the story. You can suggest interesting angles and provide information she did not get elsewhere.
• Leverage your advertising dollars into editorial coverage — Yes it can be done, but your agency need to approach this in the right way.
  

Recycling PR wins

When you win a good piece of publicity, you can amplify your success using the following tactics:

• A press release. If you won an award or some other kind of significant endorsement, put out your own press release to announce it. You don't necessarily have to put this release on a costly news wire. You can post it as an advisory on your web site and send it to your organization's mail list.
  
• Go local. If a prominent national publication or broadcaster carries a story on you, send a short release about it to your local newspapers, trade publications and chamber of commerce newsletters. "Local boy does good" stories are quite popular.
  
• Add to the story. Write a letter to the editor of the publication that just printed the story and elaborate on a few of the points that were made in the article.
  
• Post it on your web site. Prominently quote the bits of the article that you like and provide a link to the actual article (most print publications, and even broadcasters, have the same stories online).
  
• Distribute reprints and copies. Most publications (incl. broadcast media) offer a reprint service (for a fee). You can include reprints with your sales collateral and distribute them by mail, at events and speaking engagements. If you sell through a channel make sure the sales team of your channel partners also get copies. Laminated copies can be used as "shelf talkers" in retail outlets.Don't forget to include your press wins in your email newsletter. You can highlight a good quote and if appropriate, include a link.
  
• Merchandising. If you won a significant endorsement (e.g. an award) you could let potential customers know by using the award icon on product packaging, price lists, employee t-shirts, etc.