Want New Customers? Let Your Old Customers Do the Work for You

Companies are spending a great deal of time optimizing webpages for search engines and creating new social media methods to improve reach in the networking sphere. While these tactics are, of course, incredibly important and necessary, there are also other ways to grab new customers. One of the easiest ways to make this happen: Work with your loyal customers.

Many people are more apt to go with a company if they have heard from people who have nothing to gain. In other words, it is no secret that your staff is getting paid to talk about all of the great things your company can do. If you have a solid company that offers a great product or service, you will have a loyal following that will be willing and able to help you. And their efforts are the equivalent of gold to your inbound marketing efforts. 

5 Ways Current Customers Can Help You Land New Ones

Consider the following five ways you can heed the power of your loyal customers to help land new customers:

• Referrals: This is of course the most obvious way your customers can help you. As discussed above, a referral means a lot to someone because it usually comes from someone who is a close friend or already trusted.
• Testimonials: Talk with your loyal customers about giving testimonials. You want to try and get a variety of customers who have had different experiences with your company, and then consider posting them on your website.
• Surveys: Loyal customers are much more likely to take a survey or give you information that can help you gain new customers. Be sure to understand where your customers found you so that you can continue to advertise or market in areas that are working (and vice versa).
• Social Media: Connect with your loyal customers via social media. These customers are more likely to share your blog posts or remain interested in messages that you post. This will increase the likelihood of someone sharing your posts to new, potential clients. This will also help you stay in touch with your previous customers.
• Ask Questions: Make sure to always ask your customers what types of trade shows, conferences and networking events they attend. You may also want to ask what types of publications they read that are similar to your company. If you start to see a trend, you will have a potential new place to market your company and land new customers.

In most cases, your previous customers will be happy to help you determine how to grow your company. If you can give some sort of free gift for customers who give referrals or customers who take your online surveys, you will probably find that many people are interested in getting involved (and that little added bonus won’t hurt).

Have your loyal customers ever helped you gain a few new customers? Let us know how in the comments below.

Amanda DiSilvestro is a writer on topics ranging from social media to workers compensation. She writes for an online resource that gives advice on topics including document software to small businesses and entrepreneurs for the leading business directory, Business.com.

 Photo credit: phpfunk

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