How to Find New Clients for Your Business During a Slow Market

Originally published by GNOME Life Log. Re-posted with permission.

Every business knows that clients are their bread and butter. Seeing new clients means that your business is growing, so it can be disconcerting when a business and markets slow. With a slow market, where are new clients going to come from? After all, not having new clients means reduced revenue and profitability? How on earth do you find new clients and where do you even begin to look?

A good- and lasting first impression

We might be in a slow market, but that doesn’t mean you have to have slow customer service. How frustrating it is to walk into a business facility and have no clue how to proceed. There isn’t a hint of a sign anywhere. Confusion turns to frustration and then anger at the unwelcoming business. It’s why a visitor management system is so important. It makes an excellent first impression.

When you find new clients, you’ll keep them. Trust Greetly, a cloud-based visitor management solution that helps all clients automate their office processes. Every visitor is made to feel welcomed, made to feel secure, and handled in a professional way.

Make a list of potential clients

Make a list of clients who you believe will be interested in your business. If you’re wondering just where to start, many businesses find that social media is one of the most effective places to connect with potential clients.

Before searching for clients, make sure that you’re on the right social media platform – the one where your prospects are. Check out audience engagement and build a winning profile. Lead generation is all about a strong, appealing social persona.

Bring new life to your website

Nothing says boring and defunct than an old website with dated information and images. You check out when anyone made any comments and you see that it was two years ago. Online search is the first way that new customers find a business that suits their needs. But will new clients find you if your website isn’t updated and also mobile-friendly?

The world is a smartphone society and as a business, you dare not ignore the mobile market. If you haven’t updated your website in a while and you don’t have in-house expertise, hire a website design company.

Introduce new clients to your offerings

With a friendly, clear advertisement, aim to get to know clients – where they live and work. Invite them to an event that displays your wares. Your existing network may be the best place to reach out to at first. This is because their word of mouth will help grow your customer base. While relying on your existing network is good, you want to expand your network beyond these regulars.

To grow your network, attend networking events and join the right organizations. You can advertise and hold themed fairs or events to draw attention to your wares. When you host your event, present clients with an introductory freebie of your products or services. Let new clients know that you’ll be sending them emails or an SMS to inform them of specials and other future events.

Introductory offers

With a slow market, your clients have seemingly disappeared. But they haven’t – they just need to be lured back with an incentive. The world has been through upheaval and clients just need a prompt to remind them of who they were once loyal to. New customers can be offered discounts and introductory offers.

Whatever business you run, you can lure first-timers to take a look at your offerings and to take advantage of your special offer. You can go through your customer contacts and those that appear to be dormant need to be coaxed back into the fold with a gift of sorts through email or SMS.