Is Your Business Taking The Right Path?

Small Business Marketing – Growing Through Larger Client Acquisition

There are a number of factors to take into consideration when preparing yourself and your company to approach the largest clients you’ll ever work with.

Firstly I’d like to start with a brief look at the three paths every business faces and consider which one is the path to success. Then I’d like to talk about the mindset it takes to attract the big fish.

There are three principle paths that business growth can take:

• Snail Speed
• Shooting Star
• Catch the Big Fish

Snail Speed

Most business owners ended up working themselves into the ground without much reward or success. This is what happens when you fool yourself into thinking you’ll find quick success. You may also find yourself following this path when you’re afraid of change.

Shooting Star

This describes a business that shoots to the top so fast that the owners become overwhelmed and don’t have the right resources in place to cope. This can also happen through being overwhelmed by small clients and not taking the time to find larger clients, that will sustain your business after small client acquisitions slow.

Catch the Big Fish

This is the path that allows you to build at a steady pace that you can manage by not allowing your customers to outpace you. You can do this by putting these tips to work:

1. Attract, keep and lock in big clients.
2. Integrate “big business” culture into your company and employees.
3. Acquire the expertise you need to grow.
4. Have the courage to make changes as you grow.
5. Be prepared to invest a little more into going the extra mile

Now we are going to move on a little and talk about the “big fish” mindset. It may sound easy to just find and catch that big fish, but if you’re stuck in a small business mindset, you’ll find it harder than you think.

Think of all the benefits of aiming at bigger clients:

• Inexpensive
• Highly Profitable
• Longevity
• Security
• Deeper pockets…

In order to catch the big fish, you need to believe your company can make a difference to theirs. It’s easy to get into the thought that a large company doesn’t need anything from a small business like yours, but this is entirely wrong!

Once you take a look at how big companies operate, it’s important to know which ones are the best fit with your company. One of the best ways to get in the door is by knowing someone on the inside who can put in a good word for you.

Acquiring bigger clients is all about persistence. Unlike what your parents attempted to teach you when you were young (and you didn’t believe it then anyway!) a “No” doesn’t mean “No”- it just means, “Not now.” It’s your job to persist and ask, “If not now, then when.”

Finally don’t site around waiting for the bigger clients to find you as that’s unlikely to happen. You need to get out and find them – if necessary being prepared to go outside your comfort zone in doing it.

By: Mike