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What Small Businesses REALLY want...

by automationhero
17 replies
As a small business owner (Internet marketer, network marketer, e-commerce store owner, etc.) you ideally want more profitability so you can make more money...

What is your preferred way of making this happen for your business??

1- Getting new customers in the door to sell your product to

2- Upsell existing customers and maximizing your revenue from them

or

3- Building a bigger and better brand so people recognize you and trust you, therefore making them want to buy from you.

All of these 3 things are extremely important, however, what do you want most for your business??
#businesses #small
  • Profile picture of the author bigballin6161
    Getting new customers to buy your service/
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Pretty simple - get more customers to buy more, more often.
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by bigballin6161 View Post

      Getting new customers to buy your service/
      That's actually the least profitable way to increase your profits. The best way is to sell more stuff to your current customers.
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      • Profile picture of the author automationhero
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        That's actually the least profitable way to increase your profits. The best way is to sell more stuff to your current customers.
        Agreed. Re marketing to your customers is the easiest and most profitable way, however, the perception of always having new customers to a lot of business owners is a bigger selling point for them. A misunderstood concept but at the end of the day, a lot of marketing is all about perceived value.
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  • Profile picture of the author automationhero
    Truth is..

    We can do all 3. But we want to focus on one so we are not spreading ourselves to thin. Focusing on 1 thing is simpler for the consumer to understand..

    Thanks for the responses!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Originally Posted by automationhero View Post

      We can do all 3. But we want to focus on one so we are not spreading ourselves to thin. Focusing on 1 thing is simpler for the consumer to understand.

      All three of these "tasks" can be seamlessly integrated into most any business model if you pay attention to how you set things up. They all become an integral part of your "selling machine" in a way that they aren't recognized as separate stand alone "chores" to be accomplished. When you set things up correctly, you don't have to worry about this: "focus on one so we are not spreading ourselves to thin" at all.

      I personally believe that you have to do all three of these tasks every day of the year in your business or you will be left behind the leaders in your niche. Executing them all as a part of your business "selling" system is the way to go - then you are never "spreading yourself thin."

      Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author automationhero
        Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

        All three of these "tasks" can be seamlessly integrated into most any business model if you pay attention to how you set things up. They all become an integral part of your "selling machine" in a way that they aren't recognized as separate stand alone "chores" to be accomplished.
        What are your thoughts on the best ways of setting things up so you don't spread yourself too thin? I believe it can be done but it seems like there is a fine line between one focus and too many focuses. What would be an example tagline? "Get X% more customers in the door while increasing your profitability by X% through the right branding techniques."??
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  • Profile picture of the author Peter Lessard
    My method has been to do the following as an internet marketer.

    1. Pick a niche and service that I can sell at a monthly rate for a substantial sum. This allows me to deliver an amazing service that makes my clients more money that it costs them and relieves the need for constantly needing to sign up new clients.

    2. Rather than worrying about branding simply being good enough at what I do in a specific niche for a specific group of clients that they are happy to refer me to non compete colleagues that trust them.

    Maybe I am just too lazy for the long sales funnel of bringing people in at a lower price point and up selling :-) but after 14 years of doing this I know what I can do for certain clients so I plainly state the fee for the best service. Some say yes, some say no. I don't need many in the yes camp to have a great business that delivers results.
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    • Profile picture of the author automationhero
      Great points.. plus with the higher price points you end up spending less time dealing with customers that are making up a majority of the complaints just because they want something for cheap.
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  • Profile picture of the author Luscious84
    you name it! The first one is the most important to start with! Then 2 and then 3.
    You want to do 3 if 1 and 2 are good enough!
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  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    I can't find a reason to avoid any one of those points you said.
    Just work on all of them to grow your business not only with the current clients but also to get new clients and expand your opportunitites.
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    • Profile picture of the author ColdWritingLLC
      Originally Posted by Moneymaker2012 View Post

      I can't find a reason to avoid any one of those points you said.
      Just work on all of them to grow your business not only with the current clients but also to get new clients and expand your opportunitites.
      This has been said a couple of times already but it's really the point - when you're playing a sport you don't say, "well, whats the most important part of our game - offense, defense, or special plays". You focus on developing all three.

      The focus comes down to fundamentals - learning to be the best in every possible opportunity, whether it's bring in customers, keeping the ones you have, or increasing their ultimate value to you. The end result comes together to do more than focusing on just one could. You end up getting more new customers when your current customers are satisfied, and you can satisfy your current customers by continuing to solve the problems that are presented to them.

      After all, is your business strategy about making a few dollars off people or building long and profitable relationships with every single person you can?
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      • Profile picture of the author automationhero
        Originally Posted by ColdWritingLLC View Post

        After all, is your business strategy about making a few dollars off people or building long and profitable relationships with every single person you can?
        Great point! My initial question, whether or not I got it across well, was what other small business owners really want. For our business we want to build long term relationships and offer the best product for our customers. Clearly, as many have already mentioned, that is what everyone else wants and it seems like it is not by specifically going after acquisition, retention, or branding specifically, but all three in unison. Thanks for the feedback
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  • Profile picture of the author Venturetothetop
    Attracting new customers is the most expensive of the three. This is why businesses big and small focus on getting more out of the customers that have already purchased from you.

    Not up-selling is simply leaving money on the table... why? Because the people who purchase are statistically many times more likely to buy from you again. So why would you not allow them to give you their money?

    A by product of doing this well and producing valuable products is that your reputation begins to grow, which is the ultimately of any long lasting business. However, this can take years whereas up-selling can be very quick.
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    • Profile picture of the author automationhero
      Originally Posted by Venturetothetop View Post

      Not up-selling is simply leaving money on the table... why? Because the people who purchase are statistically many times more likely to buy from you again. So why would you not allow them to give you their money?
      Agreed. I guess my real question with that is, Is that what people are really looking for in their business? It is a lot easier to make money on existing customers but if that is not the thought process of other business owners do you pitch them on making more money from their current customers or pitch them on what they want (Getting new customers) but give them what they need (more money through their existing)?
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  • Profile picture of the author phort6n2
    As a small business owner, I want to find new customers to sell to. If I do that, it means I am taking their business away from another business. I want to keep them with excellent service.
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    • Profile picture of the author automationhero
      Originally Posted by phort6n2 View Post

      As a small business owner, I want to find new customers to sell to. If I do that, it means I am taking their business away from another business. I want to keep them with excellent service.
      So it is safe to say you are most interested in acquiring NEW customers as opposed to retention or branding?
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