“Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you.” – Chip Bell
Drawing customers to your company is always a better option than doing things to turn them away. In addition, it is a lot simpler to get new customers to your company than trying to get back customers that have left because they were displeased with your services and brand. Drawing customers to your company, while may be harder than retaining the current ones, is a task that requires due attention. A company must evaluate its strategies and promotional tactics such that its brand awareness increases and the target audience are able to learn about its products and services. Drawing customers to your company and reaching out to them are probably the two sides of the same ‘business coin’.
By widening the scope and usage of distribution and communication channels, a company would be able to educate customers and prospective ones about the company, thus drawing customers to your company and keeping them engaged. One of the best methods of drawing customers to your company is by consistently remaining on their ‘radar’ by some means or the other. This raises and retains the awareness of your company in the consumer circles and will be instrumental in drawing customers to your company. As customers see value in being ‘attached’ with your company, they provide repeat business and attract more business for your company.
There are a number of things a company can do, that prove beneficial in drawing customers. It starts with creating a great first impression – a simple thank you for their trust and business – goes a long way in drawing customers to your company and ensuring that they are happy to provide you with more chances to serve them. It seems like common sense to do this but very often is a highly neglected aspect in business. Companies are too busy trying to gain more business and when they do manage to gain a customer, courtesy and business etiquette seem forgotten. Drawing customers to your company is not a one-off exercise – it is a continuous process requiring a set of tasks, linked to each other in order for it to be successful.
When in the process of drawing customers to your company, it is critical that the focus remains on first forming a robust and sound relationship with them. Provide them with help and information, ensure they receive speedy and accurate responses to their queries and make sure that your company understands their requirements and expectations completely. With this level of commitment, drawing customers to your company will not be as hard.
Networking allows a company to gain leads and information on potential customers. A careful study and analysis of the customer segments will allow the company to formulate customized messages for a particular segment. As the messages reach the target audience, they would be able to perceive value in the offerings and services of the company, thereby drawing them towards your company with an interest in doing business. The leaders of a company must make networking an indispensable part of their work routine – forging partnerships should be an integral part of the company’s strategy. The marketing and sales teams should then work to convert these ‘leads’ of prospective customers to actual business alliances. Of course, the company’s reputation would need to be sound for drawing customers to your company. This is where your public relations team’s skill comes into play.
Spreading the ‘news’ about the company and its offerings is essential even before thinking of drawing customers to your company. People must know your company and its brand before they can move forward. Customized and well-articulated public relations messages serve to broaden the reach of your company since public relations works beyond the scope of only current customers – it should ‘speak’ to a wide cross-section of audience. Reaching out to many people at one time is more cost effective than repeated messaging as a full-fledged single effort will cost less and save time. Customers appreciate efforts made towards providing them with information about new and better products, especially those efforts without a singular view to sell. This is the advantage of a sound public relations strategy – customers perceive it as the company’s attempt to build general awareness and are therefore more likely to take notice.
Any business often has the backing of investors and venture capitalists, which help the company to gain financial stability and growth. Given that the market gives rise to new companies on a regular basis, investors are now more careful and the criteria for funding are more stringent than before. Therefore, those companies that do receive funding, are viewed as trustworthy thus drawing customers, since customers prefer doing business with companies that they can trust from the word go. Maintaining sound relationships with investors and such financial bodies serves to raise the credibility and reputation of a company, thus drawing customers and retaining them.
Drawing customers to your company may still be tough, but with the onset of so many different channels by which to communicate with large audiences, it has become simpler. Take the help of social media networks. Everyone (almost at least) has an on-line presence – individuals, small groups and all sizes of businesses and hence it would be highly imprudent to ignore the potential of these highly visible and powerful platforms. People are constantly interacting on these sites in order to keep in touch with each other albeit through the virtual world. A single well-written message has the potential to reach a very large audience, making it simpler to catch their attention. Once people become aware of the value and products, the process of drawing customers to your company has already begun.
Post drawing customers to your company, the value and satisfaction they receive from your company will encourage them to tell others about you. This in turn gains additional customers for your company without the additional costs and efforts. Word of mouth is perhaps the most effective and efficient method for drawing customers to your company and ensures that they remain with you for a long time.
Remain visible and in the news – drawing customers to your company would become a simpler task. Allow people and prospective customers to find your company – post informative and engaging content, do something to remain in the news, have a robust CSR program, take part in events and activities. Persevere in your efforts to remain visible and soon customers will begin to ‘see’ your company – not only would you be drawing customers to your company, you would have already given them enough information about your company to make immediate decisions.
Drawing customers to your company, as mentioned, is a process. Give the target audience a reason to talk about your company, provide them with opportunities to share ideas and discuss issues and other topics in order to make informed decisions. Doing so is a benefit that empowers customers to base their buying options on reason and will show them that your company is genuinely interested in meeting their expectations. Any company requires a mix of long-standing and new customers. Putting the measures in place will make drawing customers to your company an easier and more regular task.