In meeting with business consulting clients, I often get presented with the question, “What can I do to make the floodgates open up for new customers?” In other words, leaders are asking if there is a secret, magical formula to make their product or service suddenly go viral, figuratively and sometimes literally.
There’s good news and bad news.
The Hard Truth
The bad news is there is no rocket ship to success when it comes to lead generation. There are things you can do to make sure you’re set up properly, like optimizing the SEO on your website and making sure your Google My Business profile is dialed in.
You can proactively run Google, Meta, or LinkedIn ads and engage in PR activities to increase referrals to your site. You can write and publish blog content on a consistent basis chalk full of search key words with backlinks to other pages on your site.
Unfortunately, with constantly changing algorithms, it can feel frustrating to not understand why you aren’t getting more visitors to your website looking for your help.
But Wait, There's Good News
The good news is that there is something you can do: nurture relationships. I’m not talking about the transactional kind many networking groups overtly promote. I mean going out, making genuine connections and asking for what you need – referrals, partnerships, and more.
In an age where AI is threatening to take over many of our (creative) jobs, there’s something AI can’t replace – human connection.
There is no better marketing technology in the world than someone recommending your business to someone they know.
There are several ways to nurture relationships – here are 3 ideas:
- Connect with potential referral partners – make a list of other vendors in your industry providing complementary services; you are probably attracting the same type of clients, but aren’t competing for work. Meet people out for coffee or lunch if you live in the same city, or connect over Zoom if you don’t.
- Engage in consistent account management – regularly and intentionally reach out to your existing customer base. Celebrate product or project launches, send hand written thank you notes, send anniversary notes with reminders of how great you are to work with or how wonderful your product/solution is, send holiday gifts.
- Create a formal referral program – actively ask for referrals and create a reward system when you win new customers, such as a discount on future products, cash, or a donation to a favorite cause. The referral program might differ between partners and customers/clients.
Back to Basics
The reality is that the best way to get new leads is to have a kick-ass product or service that powerfully impacts the lives of your clients/customers. When people like what you sell, they will write reviews, tell others, and sing your praises.
Don’t underestimate the power of creating brand ambassadors, regardless of your business type. One recommendation from a trusted source is worth more than X number of visitors to your website.