Getting Sales as a New Business — Why You May Be Missing Out on Potential Customers & Clients
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If you just started a small business and you have little to no customers or sales yet, it can be extremely off-putting for clients and customers to see a brand new business with little to no credibility, no reviews online, and no way to actually trust that company or service provider. This can make getting your first few sales extremely difficult. But have no fear, here are list of a few things that you can do in order to convey that level of professionalism that gets new clients and customers to trust and buy from a brand new business.
Firstly, you should spend time creating a brand for your business. Branding your business is much more then just creating a fancy logo. It means that you are creating an overall identity for your business or services that customers can recognize — that they can know to trust, and encompasses the overall feeling of what you want customers and clients to get from your business.
A strong brand speaks directly to your target clients. A brand resonates with your target clients to the point where they not only identify with wanting to purchase from you or become a client of yours, but they will also begin to recognize the content that you put out as being branded for your company. The more they see that brand put in front of them, the more trust they will develop. Eventually, that trust is what will lead to a sale! The brand of a business is the entire experience that a customer or client has with that business.
When you first go about defining your brand, you need to first imagine your target client, who they are, what they value, their price points, the services that they need — but most importantly — the problem that they are trying to solve. Once you have identified your target clients, you are then able to model your branding surrounding that client visually. Your brand should convey a strong message to your customers the second that they see it. Everything from your business name, the colors that you incorporate, the logo, and way that things are set up should all encompass what your target client would want to see online.
The next piece of the branding puzzle for your business is not just focus on aesthetics, but also focus on the customer experience. Everything from how user friendly your online website is, to which social media platforms you choose to incorporate, to how you communicate in your writing; product descriptions, in social media posts, and in email newsletters all convey different things about your brand.
Next, in order to establish trust with potential customers and clients, you need to have a consistent web presence. That means across the board — your website, your blog, your social media channels, and anywhere else where you appear online must be consistent with your brand. They will, in most cases, research around the Internet and see what else they can find out about you. If nothing else comes up, or if something extremely outdated or inconsistent with your brand comes up, then it can negatively impact your business and you could lose that client. Scour the Internet for your business name and if applicable, your personal name, and see what comes up. How many of those things that came up are actually on par with your brand? Everything that does not align for your brand that was easily searchable and that you have control in editing, make sure that you either alter it online or pull it down.
Oftentimes when individuals are self employed, sole proprietors, or they’re just starting their own business, they may not realize that a lot of their personal information is tied to their business and is easily found online. You may not realize that if you register your business with your home address as a home based business — which is perfectly fine — that it is then on public record as being the location of a business. This public record is published and is available for anyone who searches for it, so oftentimes your home address on Google Maps may show up.
Your home address may not something that most people want to have readily available depending on the type of business or service that you provide, so my next tip is to obtain professional business identifiers. If needed, you may want to obtain a business address, a business phone number, and an employer identification number. If you’re not someone who plans on obtaining a physical brick and mortar store or an actual office, you can obtain a virtual business address. A virtual address allows you to register your business based on an address that you pay to use. The virtual address is essentially a mailbox inside of a larger business that specializes in virtual addresses. They receive your mail, and because they are an actual brick and mortar location, they are acceptable in most cities, counties, and States as your business address on your licenses, permits, etc.
Next, you can easily obtain a business phone number by applying for a Google Voice phone number and then linking that to your personal phone number. That way you will have a completely separate phone number than your personal number, and all of your business calls will be automatically sent to your actual personal phone.
My next suggestion is to establish credibility through gathering reviews. How are you able to gather reviews when you don’t have any clients? Look at it as marketing budget. If you are able to provide your products or services to either friends or family members or potential clients who are interested in your services for free or at a discounted rate as long as they agree to leave you a review, then you will be able to invest that time in exchange for receiving an honest review. Those reviews can then be posted on third party sites which your potential new clients and customers will be able to read and establish a basic level of trust in your business.
Why do I recommend third party sites? Because anyone can write anything on their own website. In general, clients and customers tend to resort to Google searches and third party review websites in order to build up a level of trust.
Lastly, I want to recommend that you conduct your meetings and consultations in professional spaces only. No coffee shops, no environments where you do not have complete control over the circumstances. If you reach the point where a client wants to speak with you in person regarding your services — and a consultation is something that you provide, or you’re providing meetings along the way — those meetings need to be consistent with your brand. You can’t host a branded experience if you have no control over the environment.
That’s not to say that you should invest a great deal of money in an office space for yourself. If you’re someone that will not have a dedicated office space, but you do need to meet in person with clients and customers, there are several different places where you can locate and book local professional spaces in which you can hold those meetings. Some of you may be holding your meetings and consultations virtually, which will mean that you then need to curate the space, lighting and look of your video.
Want to learn more about branding your small business? Watch the video here!
