Thursday, March 31, 2011

Others sell you better than you do

The first couple of years in a business are tough. Every customer is hard won. You have to actively market, make hundreds of phone calls, overservice you customers, work on relationships with your suppliers, and the list goes on.

There is a natural point somewhere in the second or third year where word of mouth about your company brings in sales. It is really wonderful to start getting cold calls from potential customers.

The key here is that word of mouth sales are important.
  • Satisfied customers will sell you just as well, if not better than you will sell yourself. They have their own network of friends and contacts who will see and hear what you did.
  • Family and friends will often actively promote you.
  • Old work colleagues may mention your company as a potential supplier to people they know.

One of the really interesting things is that they will often effectively sell you through describing your company in quite different terms to how you do.

Think of all these people as your cheer squad. Encourage them. Give them updates. Actively ask for help. You might be amazed how many people will give a little time to help you out.

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