“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” —Albert Einstein
SME’s Chat with Phillip Chichoni
The past few months have been tough for most businesses, including mine. Reviewing our August financials with our team, I noticed what I suspected: we were once again in the red.
I decided to get to the bottom of the matter. We looked at our expenses to see if there was anything we could reduce. There was no room for any adjustment as our expenses were already at their lowest possible levels. The solution was not cutting expenses.
The solution lay in raising the top line, which is our revenue. A number of our clients were failing to pay us. This caused our cash revenue to slump. So we started exploring ways of getting new customers so as to increase our revenues.
At our strategic planning session early in the year, we had written down some new and innovative marketing tactics but sadly we were not implementing them. I will share with you some of these interesting tactics that we will be implementing in the four months to the end of the year.
You might also try them and we can compare notes in December to see how well they worked.
Form alliances with other businesses
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
I provide accounting and tax services to owners of growing businesses. My customers have dozens of other services they need.
They want printing and design services, website development, legal services, etc [you can probably think of a lot more for your own customers. By establishing alliances with others selling different products to the same people, you get some major benefits.
First, you both get access to each other’s “circle of trust” —people who know you and love your work. Second, you might find ways to partner on the same sales.
And finally, you just instantly doubled [or tripled, or quadrupled] the number of people you can network with and sell to. Try that and you will start getting new business quickly.
If you don’t know where to find businesses to form alliances with, the BusinessLink Community network is a great place to start. Attend our next breakfast meeting and you will meet other entrepreneurs who may be interested in forming an alliance with you.
Get introductions
The next time you meet a friend, business contact, or former colleague for lunch [you do lunch, right?], make a simple request: “Hey. Before we go out, would you mind introducing me to your [boss/CEO/Marketing Manager]? I’ve been wanting to get in touch for a while, and considering I’ll be over there anyway?”
Do it up front [don’t ever surprise them while you’re picking them up], get their permission, be sincere about your intentions, and don’t ever, ever sell while you’re in the room. Your objective is to get introduced, get contact details, and establish a next step.
Launch a new product or service
You have been supplying your products and services for years now. If you keep doing the same thing offering the same old products and marketing them the same way, it is the same old customers who will notice them.
When you launch a new product or service, your old customers may buy it. Better still, you will attract a whole new set of customers, which should boost your bottom line. We recently launched the BusinessLink magazine and now I am working on a new book, which should be out around mid October.
Get referrals
Your existing customers are your biggest advocates, if they are happy with your products or services. You can get more customers if you your current customers for referrals.
Ask them to refer friends who may need your products or services. To make this more effective, offer them some incentive. You might give them a discount on future purchases if they refer someone. Or you may give them some gift.
Join a business networking group
Networking is one of the most effective ways of meeting new potential customers. By building relationships with people you are creating a new pool of potential customers.
Not only are the people in your group likely to buy your products, but the may also refer people they know to you.
Organisations such as the Zimbabwe Chamber of Commerce, BNI, SME Association of Zimbabwe as well as the BusinessLink Community are great avenues for networking.
Let me know what you are doing to attract new customers and accelerate your growth. Then we can compare notes in December. Best wishes in accelerating your growth.
Phillip Chichoni is a business development consultant who works with SMEs and entrepreneurs. You may contact him by email: [email protected], or visit: http://smebusinesslink.com.
