What is attracting new customers
Let us read about How to attract more customers to your business with 11 tips.
The concept of capturing customers is quite simple, so to understand it, just replace the word “capture” with some of its synonyms, such as “attract” or “conquer”. Thus, attracting customers consists of attraction techniques to seek out potential interested parties who wish to hire your consulting services.
However, it is important to understand that this process requires planning and direction . It is not enough to just shoot all over the place and offer the service to any company. First of all, you need to understand who your target audience is and what strategies will be effective to approach them.
11 tips to attract new customers
To ensure more income and growth for your business, it is essential to adopt techniques and strategies to capture and retain new customers . But do you know how to do this in a subtle and targeted way, without the approach being aggressive? Below, we list 11 important tips for the prospecting step.
1. Define your customers’ profile
The first step in attracting new customers is knowing the profile of your audience. As a consultant, it is interesting for you to know, clearly, which companies you want to reach and the characteristics of the business.
For this, it is important to do a good market analysis and answer some simple questions. So keep in mind, for example:
- what is the size of the companies you want to reach?
- Will they be from a specific industry?
- are companies in expansion?
- Will the focus be on hiring or team development ?
These and other questions will help you narrow down a specific audience and thus better segment your customer acquisition strategies.
2. Understand your customer’s pain
In addition to knowing who your ideal client is, you should also study to understand what they need and expect from your consulting service . Thus, drawing up this type of planning helps when making the offer, as you will know exactly what to offer to solve the existing problem.
Based on market research , imagine that you have defined that your biggest customers are medium-sized companies that have difficulty controlling staff turnover, for example. That way, when capturing your customers, you can present data and metrics that show how your work helps reduce the turnover rate.
3. Ask for referrals from your current customers
A good networking is very important in the corporate world and this is no different in the case of consultants. So, it’s good to keep in mind that the director of the company you serve knows other directors and managers from different organizations. So why not ask your clients to nominate your work?
But beware, the ideal is that you present your services in a professional and formal way . Understand that asking for directions in moments of relaxation may not generate the results you need, so schedule a time within the professional environment and show your differentials.
4. Use social media
The idea that social networks are just a space for fun has fallen away. Today, these tools have proven to be extremely useful for the business world . However, you need to use the right platforms to market your business.
Facebook, for example, may not be the best option. LinkedIn is considered an excellent platform to exchange knowledge and experiences about the corporate world. In this way, by creating your page in the tool, you will be able to improve your networking and efficiently present your services to an interested audience.
5. Improve your reputation
One of the most effective ways to attract new customers is to improve your reputation and credibility as a professional . For that, the tip is to invest in content marketing strategies.
Also known as inbound marketing, this strategy consists of offering relevant content to the target audience. Therefore, the consultant must offer free information on their blog or on social networks, in order to become a reference in the subject.
Thus, when your customer has doubts or decides to hire a service, you will be the first person to be remembered as a solid and competent professional.
6. Be clear about your proposal
To secure new contracts, it is essential that you be able to show potential customers what the proposal is and what benefits your service can bring to the company’s HR.
When making this presentation, be as clear as possible and try to exemplify the situations so that managers can understand their activity in practice. Here, indicators and reports that can be generated are a good example for leaders to understand in a more visual way what their value proposition is.
7. Analyze the competition
After all, do you know why the customer should hire your service and not a competitor’s? Understand that if you offer exactly the same thing as other HR consultants, you may be missing out on a lot of opportunities .
Therefore, it is essential to analyze the competition, check market trends and find your competitive edge . This difference may be related to the technologies you use or even people development strategies.
However, to define it, you will need to understand the market you want to target and what holes within the segment need to be filled.
8. Use paid media
Another way to reach your target audience is through media buying. Investing in sponsored links and paid media on Facebook and LinkedIn can be a great way to find customers looking for your service.
On Google Ads, for example, you can buy search terms directly linked to your consultancy, for example, “improve people management”. That way, your site appears first when someone types that term and you are more easily found.
Another great advantage is that, using these tools, you can segment the audience, making only people close and interested in the subject to find your ads. This prevents, for example, someone from another state looking for your consultancy.
9. Focus on service
Would you close a deal with someone who doesn’t answer your questions or can’t show successful cases and good results? Betting on a good service is the secret to attract new customers and retain old ones .
Therefore, show your availability, interest and clear all doubts from your potential customer. In the case of the internet, it is important to take a few minutes a day to answer questions on social networks and chat applications. Remember that leaving a customer unanswered for days can cause them to have a bad impression of your service and lose interest.
Also, keep in mind that unhappy customers can be bad advertising . In this way, prioritize the service of your old customers and try to solve problems as quickly as possible.
10. Innovate and stay on top of technologies
We’ve already talked about how important it is to have a competitive edge that sets you apart from the competition. In the case of consultants, it is expected that the professional has know-how and knowledge of the market, being always on the lookout for news .
Therefore, it is essential that HR consultants seek continuous improvement and invest in training for new technologies. In this way, betting on the right tools will allow you to act in a more optimized and strategic way , without wasting time with bureaucratic and repetitive tasks, investing in a more productive and efficient management.
A tip is to bet on people analytics and behavioral management tools that allow a more precise definition of positions and help in the efficiency of selection processes.
11. Make partnerships
Strategic partnerships are also a good way to attract new customers and also increase your revenue. For that, you can count on business partners to create content or hold events and congresses, for example.
In addition, seeking partnership programs with consolidated companies, which have essential tools, that can make you gain more credibility and be able to offer reliable solutions to your customers.
By participating in the program, the consultant can expand their market of activity and control the seasonality of income, in addition to obtaining development training and participating in a community to support micro-entrepreneurs.
As we have seen, attracting new clients is a fundamental process to ensure the growth of HR consultants and make their services reach new audiences. For this, it is important to create a plan, seek competitive advantages and have a correct approach . In addition, having business partners is also a good way to improve your attractiveness.