Need More Paying Customers Who Give You More Paying Customers?

By: Matt C
Submitted: 2008-05-23 12:50:32
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1. Give them what they want and need
2. Give them something to do (regularly)
3. Give them value before they give you money

GIVE TO GET. That’s it… I could stop right there (and I’d like to because I have a bunch of customers waiting for me to do some work for them! haha), but here are a few more tips:

Keep giving so you can keep getting.

Why? Because it’s a branding game -> stay in the forefront of people’s minds and you win the game. Also, if people are constantly receiving value from you for free, at some point their “value tank” will overflow and they will need to give something back. That’s right, I did say that they will NEED to give back. The law of reciprocity is inbuilt into human nature. And the beautiful thing about it is that if you are truly giving them something of value - be it useful information or free samples or free service or just some form of care and encouragement perhaps - then you deserve to receive back and people love to give value to you.

…that’s the key.

You’ll feel good giving value to people who need it and appreciate it, and they’ll feel good giving some form of value back to you. It’s the best kind of relationship and, in fact, I would go so far as to say that - ultimately - we should all be aiming to give value without looking for a return in EVERY area of our lives, and then we will find that EVERY area of our lives simply “works out” the way we’d like it to. We shouldn’t need to NEED our customers to buy our goods and services - we should just be able to relax knowing that they are receiving value and will WANT to give value back to us.

I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t bill your customers or anything like that. Of course you’re still running a business and need to act accordingly. All I’m saying is that focussing on giving them what they want and need, you’ll get the following results:

• a better product or service
• a better “connection” with your customers and potential customers
• a more permanent relationship with customers
• an easier way to “sell” your product/service
• it’s free “advertising” and people will tell their friends and colleagues if it’s real value*
• far greater satisfaction for you, your staff and your customers

(*) Word-of-mouth is probably the most powerful form of marketing that exists (and has always existed since the dawn of man).
There are plenty of simple/inexp ways to “give” to your customers and potential customers (such as e-Newsletters), some of which I’ve covered previously and some of which I’ll cover in later posts, but the main point is that RECIPROCITY (mutual exchange or the biblical “give and you shall receive” concept) is a truly great way to do business and get the results you want (and deserve).
Just ask yourself these questions:

1. What can I give away that would be of value to my customers and potential customers?
2. How can I give away this value on a regular basis whilst still having enough time for the “work”?
3. How can I get people to notice what I’m giving away for free?

You might need to talk to a professional marketing strategist (see link below) about #3.

Okay, time to get started… Happy giving!

The Global Impact Marketing and Brand Strategy Blog offers free resources and articles for growing businesses, marketing departments, graphic designers, website developers and entrepreneurs.

Article source: Expert Articles

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