The Secret to Attracting Customers to Your Small Business

The perpetual objective for any business or entrepreneauer is to gain more clients or customers. Without someone coming through the door (phyiscally or digitally) you won’t have a door for them to come through anymore.

So, how do you get them? How do you keep them?

The answer is simply relationships. As with any good relationship though it takes patience, persistence, and gifts.

Out of fear, our minds tend to default into what I like to call “gimmie mode”. In this mode you are striving to get something from others because you want it immediately, like money for instance. You see this a lot in sales and marketing through the junk mail that shows up in your inbox to the desperate cell phone sales person or car dealer. This is a stressful mindset to be operating from all the time.

Lasting customers don’t ever come from a quick sale out of the gimmie mode. They come from you taking the time to develop a connection with them, not a sale. You need to give before you can get. That’s why I said gifts earlier. When you catch yourself in gimmie mode take a moment to remind yourself to switch to giving mode instead.

Take a moment to think about what you can offer current and potential customers. Give them your time. Give them your help. Give them your kindness. Give them something cool to admire in your Instagram feed all without any expectation that they would purchase from you. When you least expect it they will reach out eventually with that sale…or maybe they won’t. And that’s okay because someone else will and that person may be a referral from your target. You’re not trying to win, your just trying to help.

Try it out. Look up some businesses you’d like to work with, introduce yourself and let them know what you find awesome about what they’re doing. Then keep the conversation going over time and see what happens. This could be in the form of periodic emails to catch up or liking and commenting on their social media posts, or signing up and reading their newsletter. Basically, keep your name on their radar without annoying them. Celebrate their wins, celebrate your wins. Even though it might feel like they are not paying attention in the moment, trust me, they are. Just keep at it.

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