Seek Out New Clients Instead of Waiting for Them to Find You

One of the biggest mistakes that many small businesses make is to not attempt to seek out new clients. They hope that an ideal client will stumble across their company in a Google search, or maybe hear about them by speaking to another small business owner in the area. And yes, this definitely does happen. I’m sure that’s how you’ve gotten a lot of your clients.

But, is this sustainable?

For too many companies, the answer is no.

I’m sure you’re not the only other managed service provider in your area. There are probably other companies out there selling the same or similar products and services as you, vying for customers in the same service area. If a potential customer discovers them first, either by happenstance or from a marketing piece, you might not get that sale. That potential customer might not even know you exist!

Even if you don’t have a lot of direct competition in your area, that doesn’t mean that these companies are going to seek you out. They may not see the need for a managed service provider, choosing instead to stick to a break-fix IT style of things or an internal IT resource. Maybe they don’t even know what “managed service” is.

The bottom line is that you need to get the word out there about your company and the services you provide if you want clients to remember your brand when they’re ready for a managed service provider. And, you do this through marketing.

It's Worth Giving It A Try

If you want to potentially land a sale with a company in your area that doesn’t know about you or isn’t yet sold on managed services, you’re going to have to try and convince them through your marketing. Unfortunately, a lot of small businesses don’t make the effort to market themselves to potential new clients. And, we understand their hesitation.

Often, it has to do with money. Marketing costs can quickly add up, especially when it comes to direct mail marketing (which a lot of your marketing is when you’re trying to target new customers). And, if you don’t have a lot of money in your marketing budget to begin with, it may seem like it’s not worth the gamble for something that doesn’t seem like a ‘sure thing’.

Another reason is that they don’t even know where to start. These businesses want to seek out new customers, but they don’t know the best way to do it. Should they just post a bunch of flyers around town? Start sending out direct mail pieces to every small business in a 15 mile driving radius? Have their sales team start cold calling every local small business number they can find through Google?

Attempting to do any of those isn’t going to generate you much business, if any. You need to build up a list of businesses that are located in your service area and fit your ideal customer profile. Then, you need to start communicating with them. Since you can’t just send them an email at this point in the process, the best way to do this would be to send them a direct mail piece or two. From those pieces, you should be directing recipients to a landing page where they can learn more about what you do and provide contact information through a form.

Part of this process should also include a follow-up call from one of your salespeople that further introduces your company to them. This should occur after they have received a few of your marketing pieces as a way to preface the call. And of course, it should happen as soon as possible after visitors to your landing page fill out your form.

Looking for a Campaign to Do Just This?

All us to help introduce your company to a list of 50 contacts, vetted by us to ensure that they are a match to the type of client you are looking for. With our Meet Company Campaign, we do just that. On your behalf, we will send three letters (each accompanied by an added deliverable) and two oversized postcards to these contacts. These direct mail pieces each encourage recipients to visit one of the two landing pages we provide you with that highlight two services of your choice and include a form for them to fill out. And, we will even provide you with a follow-up phone script so your salespeople know just what to say.

If you’re interested in having us help you generate new business, reach out to us to get your campaign started!