From one power user alone it's pretty amazing what you can do. With our biggest one we have grown the business by getting 7 client referrals. On top of getting me new clients he has also suggested I work on other projects with him, which I plan to take full advantage of. Now we are also connected to other important figures in the field as well through him who with some luck will help us grow to the next level.
These clients are the ones who represent the "80/20" rule in business aka Pareto's law. You never know who can be treasure, so I very much hope you treat everyone like they are. Our first Power User was the guy who was willing to give us a SECOND chance (after paying and getting a bad product) even though he knew our new product was still in beta. He always talks about the field of real estate and tells me how much potential he thinks exists for the sector. Lastly, many people will tell you that they'll get you more business, but few actually do or come close to helping along the way. If anyone ever refers you business without you having to ask them then do anything to help them out and watch the profits rocket. :-)
So How do you find Power Users? You may ask...
From my experience: 3 ways.1) They Find You
Perhaps, they may suggest you do the project for them before you even plan a sales pitch (Happened to me). Do you know a person who sees the opportunity in the field and what's missing? Do they have real passion about your sector? If yes this may just be the person you were looking for. If anyone does suggest you do a project though (make sure you work out payment in advance).
So how do you help them find you?
Make sure you're on EVERY logical platform you can be on. If this is an early stage startup you don't know where customers come from so your best bet is to hit up every marketing channel you know plus every event related to the sector.
2) You find Them and they Quickly Agree to Join
You do a cold call one day and you find yourself having the easiest conversation ever (the sale is never hard with power users). Perhaps they say: "We're going to do business together for a long time" like one of ours did. In any case even if this is a cold call, conversations with them should be easy because they love that you're in the field. Your Power Users most likely have the most pain with the problem you're solving and that is why they are so easy to work with.
3) You Develop Them
Turning average users into power users is an art. As our company grows, we keep improving our product and gaining more and more feedback from people (call your clients each week). As we gain more information about the field and update our services average users can start favoring your company and grow to power users over time.
At the end of the day even though each client might have the same core needs they are also unique in their own rights. ***Warning*** Whatever you do make sure your clients are completely brutally honest with you to help save time. Establish honesty from the start by being honest with them. I also suggest you dig deeper into their personal preferences right down to the very last background color if you can. I know for a fact that they won't all want the same products and services as soon as you start cross-selling or up-selling. As long as you keep constantly brainstorming how to give them a high ROI you can't fail! One reason I think my clients are loyal to me is because they genuinely trust me. You'd be surprised how few companies actually reach out, care and have 1 to 1 interactions with people. There's a lot to improve on in our current generation of business and I've merely scratched the surface.Those are the basics, let me know if you would like me to go into more details about any of the topics in this article. If you have questions, comments or concerns feel free to add them as well :-)
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