Getting new customers

[BusinessFan90]

I apologise in advance for posting what I assume is the most frequently asked business-related question on the internet, but here goes...

I've very recently started up as a freelance web designer aimed at small and new businesses. So far, I've designed sites for close friends and relatives who've needed them and had a couple of others from word of mouth which has been great for getting a portfolio together and earning some much-needed money to start this venture.

I've been asking anybody and everybody I know for tips and advice on how to go about taking the next step which is naturally attracting more customers. So far, I'm obviously going down the social media route and putting up flyers in as many shop windows as I can around the town.

Would you suggest I go cold-calling hotels and shops and other small businesses in person or ring them up before hand and try and make an appointment to go over the service I provide with them at a time that's best for them?

It'd be great to here any tips and suggestions. Thanks

 

[DexSmart]

Take on a campaign pro-bono but make sure they allow you to use it as a case study, and will be a reference for your business. Then, once you deliver your design for your clients tell them that you'll pay them $100 or whatever for every single client they send you. This way you can transform your work in auto-pilot (get other guys to help you out).

You can start on Facebook, Linkedin, AdWords, etc..

 

[MatthewRJones]

I would contact someone or a business who has a large network of contacts - for example if you wanted to do websites for tradespeople I would meet up with your local hardware shop or for small businesses the leader of your local BNI chapter.

 

[TMIB]

Cold calling businesses to promote your web design services is a great idea. I find that I can gain a substantial amount of high quality leads, meetings and new business for online and digital marketing clients that use TMIB's service.

Cold calling is effective as many companies that are in potential purchase situations need prompting to consider your solutions to their requirements.

You may wish to narrow the field down so that you have more chance of converting cold calls into warm leads. If you are looking for start ups then you may obtain lists of new businesses from list brokers and I suggest trialling a sample of these before committing to a paid trial which many list companies will do.

It may also be a good idea to narrow down the industry sectors to ones where you have previous experience, then you can say to the company that you are cold calling that you have relevant experience (and hopefully success).

Meeting prospects is always beneficail for closing deals. However it is increasingly common for deals to be arranged via teleconference nowadays. This is particularly useful if you are targeting non local companies where significant travel is involved.

Asking when the most convenient time to talk further is also a good idea as you should recognise that most cold calls are an incursion on a prospect's already busy schedule. Empathising with them about their valuable time being taken up helps to build rapport and when you speak to them at a time that's good for them you're likely to gain a better response.

 

[mark111]

There are a few things you need to do before contacting any potential customer. First, why would someone use your service? If they don't already have a website then that narrows your market quite a bit. Assuming they already have websites, why would they use you? Are you faster, cheaper, more innovative, more local....? Once you have your "pitch" worked out you can decide whom to target based on what they have already and why they should use you instead of their current website developer/provider.

This is just a snapshot of how to go about finding new business but hopefully you get the idea. It's about knowing your advantages vs alternatives, and segmenting your market according to where you offer something different.

The techniques for prospecting are many, but random cold-calling is probably the least productive and dispiriting. Do some homework, work out why a prospect would even talk to you, find out something current about their business as an opener to get their attention, then persist until you get an audience or a rejection.

Here's an example: look at a local shop or hotel's website, see what you can find out about them that's newsworthy (eg a summer sale, or a corporate event the hotel is hosting), come up with a website idea that would give them an advantage over their current one, then open your contact with something like "You have a good website but I would like to talk to you about how I can get you better results...". It has to be more specific than that in real life.

Good luck

 

[positivesparks]

Hi BusinessFan, congratulations on your new business! All of the tips above are great. The thing I would add is for you to know what your own USP's are above all the other web designers out there. As a new company, will you compete on price? Is locality going to be a key selling point? What kinds of websites do you specialise in creating? Maybe you want to target a specific kind of business? For example, what kind of website would a hotel need? Connection with all major online booking agents? Reviews embedded into the site? What kind of package could you create for hotels or any niche that is more geared to their specific needs? This will give you a very specific type of business to contact.

 

[ethical PR]

Hi Business Fan

You are right, asking how to promote your business is a frequently asked question here, particularly from 'web designers' so probably worth you looking through the threads using the search function.

Think back to when you started up your business, what was it about your business that made you think there was a gap in the market place for your services?

As you know you are in an incredibly competitive market place, so you need to clearly identify what you know about your potential customers and their communications channels, why they should use your services, rather than your competitors and how your services will benefit their business.

This will help you draw up a marketing plan and identify your routes to market.

I would contact someone or a business who has a large network of contacts - for example if you wanted to do websites for tradespeople I would meet up with your local hardware shop or for small businesses the leader of your local BNI chapter.

I'm not quite sure how contacting a hardware shop would help you get business from tradespeople. You would probably be best if you want to specialise in tradespeople and feel from your research that this could provide a marketplace for you, I would suggest contacting your local traders association and offering a special deal for their members if they can help you promote this deal to their members. With BNI it can be an expensive investment for start ups with over a thousand pounds costs per year plus your time ...over three hours a week x 50, so you might want to look at alternative business networks.

If you have are a trained graphic designer who can design websites, or an experienced back end developer you could also approach agencies and inhouse teams for freelance work.

Good luck

 

[MatthewRJones]

Hi Business Fan

You are right, asking how to promote your business is a frequently asked question here, particularly from 'web designers' so probably worth you looking through the threads using the search function.

Think back to when you started up your business, what was it about your business that made you think there was a gap in the market place for your services?

As you know you are in an incredibly competitive market place, so you need to clearly identify what you know about your potential customers and their communications channels, why they should use your services, rather than your competitors and how your services will benefit their business.

This will help you draw up a marketing plan and identify your routes to market.



I'm not quite sure how contacting a hardware shop would help you get business from tradespeople. You would probably be best if you want to specialise in tradespeople and feel from your research that this could provide a marketplace for you, I would suggest contacting your local traders association and offering a special deal for their members if they can help you promote this deal to their members. With BNI it can be an expensive investment for start ups with over a thousand pounds costs per year plus your time ...over three hours a week x 50, so you might want to look at alternative business networks.

If you have are a trained graphic designer who can design websites, or an experienced back end developer you could also approach agencies and inhouse teams for freelance work.

Good luck

I would get a referral scheme put in place with the hardware shop or even do their website for free. My office is right opposite a hardware shop and the amount of tradespeople that have spent money on getting their van sign written but don't have a website is huge. All the web developers I know who attend BNI highly recommend it.

 

[BusinessFan90]

Thanks for all the advice - it's all really appreciated. I'll post a longer reply as soon as I get chance.

 

[ethical PR]

I would get a referral scheme put in place with the hardware shop or even do their website for free. My office is right opposite a hardware shop and the amount of tradespeople that have spent money on getting their van sign written but don't have a website is huge. All the web developers I know who attend BNI highly recommend it.

Exactly that's because they have found that advertising their services on their vans is a better route to market than having a website.

Personally I don't know anyone that chooses a tradesperson by going online to look at their website, most people ask for word of mouth recommendations or see them working in their local area and get their contact details from a van or sign where they are working.

In terms of BNI it's an expensive investment for a start up with limited funds and time to spend on their marketing. At the BNI I was part of, the designer who had signed up got no referrals that went anywhere or any direct work during the time he was there. However I do appreciate it works for some people.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, when it comes to marketing it really depends on who the OP sees as his target audience, what he knows about the communications channels they use, what differentiates his business from his competitors etc.

 

[Shaun_Pearce]

Cold calling is an effective way of doing business. It's a tried and tested medium that works very well.

If you're interested in new businesses such as hotels shops etc I can show you how to get a list of these quickly. Drop me a message if you'd like to take a look at the list.

Cheers

 

[Hunt New Business]

My advice would be to have a think about a wider business development strategy which will include: a well defined proposition, a well defined target market, social media etc.

Think carefully about who you would like to target and what it is about what you offer that would appeal to them.

Remember that you are a creative business so it would make sense to incorporate some creativity into your approach.

I've worked in business development for specifically for creative agencies for 15 years and I'm happy to give some industry specific tips so feel free to contact me.

 

[MojoPromotions]

Depending on your area, it might be worthwhile to go to some networking events. Where we're based (in Leicester) there are quite a few free networking events, so if there's any in your area it really wouldn't help. In that instance you could also offer a discounted project just to get some custom flowing. The chances are it'll be small/medium businesses that will go to these kind of events, and maybe you'll even catch a big fish!

 

[HazelC]

I am in a similar industry, I write the written content for websites (along with other things), and work with other web designers. This allows them to sell the full package of the website and the content on the website too.

I have got all my clients through social media (Facebook and Twitter have passed me the most leads) and also networking. When it comes to smaller and start up businesses people sell to people so it's about really getting to know your target audience and where they are.

Make sure you pop your tag at the bottom of the websites you design too (sorry if you're already doing that but sometimes the 'obvious' things are over looked)

Good Luck!

 

[bsummers]

I suggest you do multi channel. Pair online and offline. This is one way of generating more leads. Since you are a website designer, you need online presence. Also, since your target may not be that knowledgeable of the internet, you gotta do traditional marketing such as calling.

 

[sitestillup]

Contact local businesses is always a great start, along with networking.

Try sites like People Per Hour and Elance. May take time to win your first job but it does help.

I think it's important to showcase your work and be prepared to work for less for the first few jobs.

 

[capitalvirtual]

A website designer should really try Ad words Express, this is similar to Google Ad words but it can be great for linking up with local clients. It sounds like you want to work with local businesses and this is a great way of putting your business across to them. Surely worth a try?

 

[GetProspectsdotco]

I would get a referral scheme put in place with the hardware shop or even do their website for free. My office is right opposite a hardware shop and the amount of tradespeople that have spent money on getting their van sign written but don't have a website is huge. All the web developers I know who attend BNI highly recommend it.

Matthew R Jones gave you very good tip. Ask for authority person for your help. If he will like what you are doing he probobly could recomend you. Just do not be afraid to come up to the people!

 

[StevePoster]

Using every possible platforms to reach your targeted users is the best way such as online and offline marketing. I noticed that offline marketing campaign is still effective this nowadays..

 

[chrisleadley]

Things I would consider are Facebook news feed ads targeted to your local area and owners of small business pages, you can also target the particular type of business you want to design sites for it you think about their interests etc (you'll need to set this up using the power editor).

And as other people have mentioned Google/Bing ads (Adwords express is good) are a good way to bring in people who are actually searching for website design.

 

[andrewcakebox]

All the posts above have all mentioned some useful advice. One thing people want nowadays is someone who can solve their problems. If you highlight problems they never even knew they had, and showing them you have the solution, thats a starting point. Eg. offer them a free website appraisal; highlight the weaknesses in their site and present yourself as the expert. You're sure to win business once you've got their trust.

 

[vividWire]

Membership of anyone such as the FSB and your local Chambers of Commerce can really help in terms of access to networking events. That's usually the way we manage to meet with good quality clients, and it enables us to establish a decent rapport with them first in a way you simply can't do with an advert. From experience, the FSB fee has always been worth it, especially given the attractiveness of their free banking offer.

You mentioned you're in web design; any specific conferences, meetups and trade shows in this sector can also be useful, especially if you're happy to consider supplying other businesses with white label web design services. There is a training element often attached to them too, which can be handy when it comes to skill and business development.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

I'm amazed at how many businesses go out of business still reluctant to actually do something as simple as trying to talk to other people who might need their service...i.e. cold calling

 

[christian_d]

If you are web designing then surely getting a decent website up and running that is visible on the major search engines (for local searches) will work a treat. Cold calling and all the other suggestions are useful short term but get the basics right before you do the hard work.

 

[amac]

If you are web designing then surely getting a decent website up and running that is visible on the major search engines (for local searches) will work a treat. Cold calling and all the other suggestions are useful short term but get the basics right before you do the hard work.

Exactly true. There's no point in acquiring leads until you can convert so having the neccessary infrastructure in place beforehand is a must.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

If you are web designing then surely getting a decent website up and running that is visible on the major search engines (for local searches) will work a treat. Cold calling and all the other suggestions are useful short term but get the basics right before you do the hard work.

Except your placing your offering, in a crowded market, to the 3% or so that are actively searching at any given time.
If you can place a unique offering to the other 97%, then the chances are significantly higher that you will get the work...

 

[fairdealworld]

Many 'prospects' such as myself never attend BNI nor any other type of networking meeting simply because we know we will be the target for website designers, business advisers, bookkeepers, virtual assistants, photographers, consultants in this and that and what have you, while none of those doing the targeting have the slightest intention of supporting the businesses they target. Sorry just my comment on the whole networking issue!

Cold calling? Well I hate cold callers but that's because 99.9% of them think a shopkeeper has absolutely nothing to do but talk to them and will be happy to ignore the customers queuing up to be served or asking questions, or ignoring the delivery driver who is just carting a load of boxes through the door, in favour of listening to their patter - not! There is the 0.1% who do think a shopkeeper might be busy, who never ask you how you are (today or otherwise) but who swiftly say 'I'm a xxx offering yyy services' followed by the magic words 'Is this a convenient time to talk?' I often do agree to talk at another time with that small group of polite and informed folk, sometimes I even say that the shop is quiet at the moment so we can talk now. Quite a few of this charmed 0.1% have become suppliers to my business of one thing or another.

A few months back I did seriously think about giving up on my do it yourself site and employing a small website design company who rang and did not gabble at me but were prepared to ring back at a convenient time and sounded reasonably useful when they did. I've thought this before and hope springs eternal, so why didn't it work out?

I think the catch for a website designer is that many small businesses have already had bad experiences in this sector and therefore are unwilling to flush good money after bad. I've had two bad experiences so any new person/company would have to tell a very good story.

My tips would be as follows:

after a website designer has spoken to me my first action is to go and look at their own website, most are really not good and put you off immediately. If I'm going to have a second rate website I might as well have one I did myself and which is thereby immensely cheaper;

my second action is to follow the links on that website to the customer websites designed by the person or company concerned, often these are mostly not good and worse you generally find that some of the links don't work. So okay some customers will go out of business but the designer/company should have noticed this and removed the link;

website designers are, fair enough, website designers and don't necessarily have the gift of the gab, but if you want a small business to pay what is to them an awful lot of money for a website you have to come up with some very good reasons why that small business owner should pay you to do the work. The fact that you've done x number of websites or even that you did a huge project designing a site for J organisation and they were very pleased with it is quite irrelevant if J organisation is in a completely different sector or of a completely different size to that of the prospect you are calling. You have to have some positive suggestions for creating an effective website for the person/organisation concerned as inducements for them even to listen to you in the first place;

be realistic, as someone else has said for many trades people websites and even leaflets and such (shock horror!) are not really relevant to getting new customers. There are so many awful trades people about that personal recommendation is hugely valued and sign written vans are very powerful too especially when parked beside a project where those passing and neighbours can see a job being well done and trades people getting on with the job instead of constantly floating off to Wickes or wherever to buy the materials and tools they ought to have brought with them in the first place. Every business needs a business card or a very simple leaflet with contact details to give to enquirers, some businesses like mine do need websites and could do with better websites, many frankly just don't.