Build your Customer Base

crafthaus.ning.com

Blessings people! Welcome to NeverTheLess!  How time flies. We are in May already! My prayer is that this month will bring you all the grace and favour you require to move your dream forward.

I have been asked recently what the next step should be once an individual has recognized his dream life and started to live it.  A lot of people who have dreams to offer goods or services that are already in existence are wondering where their clientele and customers will come from.  The fear is who will want to spend their money on something new and not yet proven if they can just walk to their regular service provider and get what they have always gotten? Why will they want to change their buying habits just because you have something new in the market?  My post will center basically on two different ways we went about getting our customers and how we have kept them. Also, I will be addressing how we expanded the market at Effectual.

1. ENSURE THAT YOU ARE GIVING SOMETHING EXTRA

When we started publishing Effectual magazine, we knew that we had no track record in the business, and that we were going to be trying to break into a territory that has been controlled over time by a certain kind of publication, for a certain kind of woman.  While there was nothing wrong with the publications in circulation, there was a gap we wanted to fill so rather than just publish another magazine like all the rest, we made sure we had that extra element.

 Most clients and customers are usually pretty loyal to their service providers, so much so that crossing the carpet can be difficult. It is therefore your responsibility as the new kid on the block to ensure that you provide the extra, and let them decide over time that they need what you have on offer.

2. IS YOUR DREAM AND BUSINESS ABOUT THE CUSTOMER?

This was our second focus. We ensured that as much as it was possible, we responded to our customers on time, usually within the first twenty four hours and even though money was important to the health of the business, we didn’t make our service about the money!  For us, it was and it still is, a joy to be able to serve our clientele and we celebrated every single reader that joined us, as long as we were aware of them. 

They were special to us, and we didn’t hesitate to let them know.  It should be the same with you. You cannot make it about the money.  Remember this is your dream, which means it is your life work. Money cannot be the main reason why you are living this life, and your customers need to know that each one of them is important and valuable to you.

3. RESPECT THE CUSTOMER ESPECIALLY WHEN HE DOESN’T THINK HE REQUIRES YOUR SERVICE.

This is a hard one, but I had to keep telling my marketing team that their job was to make the magazine available to those who had need for them.  It was always easier to get the individual who has an interest and need that we can meet to subscribe than it was to convince just about anyone on the street.  That you have a new service or product doesn’t give you the license to become a pest and an irritant to others.  Always remember that while trying to sell, the customer reserves the right to buy.

4. ADVERTISE

When we started we had no budget for advertising and I know this applies to most new ventures and businesses.  So we resorted to the best and most effective kind of advertisement that we knew about, and that was by word of mouth.  Here we relied greatly on the Law of 250; we trusted that if we continued to give the extra, combined with excellent customer service and respect for our customers, both current and prospective, we will get to a point where existing customers become our greatest sales people.  And that has not failed us at all.  For every market in the different corners of the world that have opened to us, it is usually one satisfied customer that makes it happen.

While this is not exhaustive, I do know that if you begin here, you will go really far in what you have been called to achieve with your dream.  Remember it is not about the money, the customer is King, ensure you are giving extra and finally, trust your existing client base to help you spread the word.

Till next week don’t forget, that a dream is only as effective as the man who is awake taking action.  You will make it NeverTheless.  See you next week.

Hugs

Sistar B

More on Gain vs Value

Welcome!  I’m sorry but I just could not put up a post last week, I had a few things to sort out and that kept me out of the office through the week.  Thanks to all who have one way or the other sent feedback on posts on this blog so far.  I really appreciate your feedback. 

Someone asked me what a business is to do to make gain, while creating or giving value that outshines the gain.  Another respondent wanted to know if what I meant in the last post was that it is wrong for people to want to make gain.  On this post I will try and answer both questions and hopefully the issue of gain versus value will become clearer for us all.

The issue is never that a man or woman makes gain, the issue as I see and understand it is that the urge for making gain could be so strong that one is willing to bend the rules, compromise or even harm the other person, and this becomes the mindset of gain at all costs.  What I am proposing in the alternative is that we set out with the intention that whatever we are doing and will do, will carry a value worth more than any gain or money we may make.  Please note that what I am saying is not that we price ourselves, goods or services below cost and profit margin, but that we can make profit while still ensuring that what our clientele or customers enjoy as value from our goods or services have by far more lasting impact than the money they have to pay for it.

The point therefore is that we ensure that those we deal with have a pleasant experience that makes whatever amount they pay worth it. It is a mindset thing if you ask me.  It is a determination that people will pay for the experience they will have for every time they come in contact with us, rather than just for the goods and services

Now to the question of what does a person do to ensure that they get gain from the value they create. The answer is simple, if we are setting out with the mindset that we want to add value, to make more gain; we just need to increase the number of people we are able to serve with the value mindset. To explain it, let me use Effectual Magazine as our example. When it became clear that we were called and created to add value to women in this peculiar way, we started to service through teachings that attracted a handful of women per meeting.

We were making impact but we also knew that for our dream to make gain then it needed to serve more women.  What we then did was take the teachings and put them into newsletter formats and started to spread them to a lot more women than we could reach with our meetings. Ultimately, we realized that the women were being blessed, but we could reach a whole lot more women and that was how the magazine was born. Even with the magazine, we have constantly looked for ways to reach more women, and today our readership transcends the shores of Nigeria and Africa. 

The secret is out, if you want to make more gain, find a way to serve more people and you will be amazed at the volume of lives you touch as well as the extent of the value you are able to create. The more people you can touch with value and impact in mind rather than money and gain, the more your gain and profit goes up.

For everyone already living their dreams out there, try this simple principle and let me know how you have fared. 

Till next week, you will make it NevertheLess… I promise.

Hugs

Sistar B