1. Word of Mouth is still “The King”
One great referral through Word of Mouth — WOM is one of the most effective ways of getting and retaining a customer.
Research giants like Neilson group and top business schools like Wharton, all agree that once you acquire such a client, the lifetime value is also 15–25% higher than other sources.
So focus on your current network and build trust. For a few things in life, there are no short cuts.
2. Crystal clear customer personas
Being clear about your target audience is the key to providing a great experience of your product or service.
Create and maintain a document that defines the ideal customer profile/ persona with details such as age, gender, country, language, income levels, spending habits, fears, desires, needs, etc.
And, make sure that your entire team is clear about this information and reinforce the same constantly over time.
3. Establish your Personal Brand
A vital aspect of building your start-up is to build your personal brand in the specific segment your company operates in.
Establish this by giving talks, sharing stories, feedback, ideas and opinions on offline and online social platforms, recommend products/services that you use, refer people in your industry, etc
This helps create an industry leader posture for you which is vital to attract the right kind of talent for your company.
Try to attend SCD Balaji’s Personal Branding workshop — https://in.explara.com/e/personal-branding-program-for-creative-enthusiasts
4. Uni-task, instead of multi-task
As a founder of a start-up you often find yourself doing everything from making chai to signing the pay check, from cleaning your office to having a con-call with clients at Silicon Valley.
Try to set up processes in the firm where as a founder, you are working only on the core tasks of your company. If you are selling a product, be on the call with the clients or lead.
This is one of the primary reason why there has been a sudden and timely boom in the co-working, shared-office-space / pay-per-use-office-space models across the world.
5. Build an audience
Birds of a kind flock together. Having a like-minded audience, followers or customers who looks at things the same way as you is the best way to drive your product or service.
Managing their expectations is the key to growth. You can provide solutions to their challenges more easily and definitively.
Ask open-ended questions, communicate relevantly, keep in touch often and most importantly be authentic.
6. Listen actively, act passively
People now probably have the least attention spans then than ever before. The market is crowded, noisy, complicated. If by any chance your user/customer is willing to talk to you about your product/service, then you have to believe that a miracle is happening to you!
Make sure you understand the nuances of active listening to get the maximum value out of the experience for both you and the customer.
A few methods to make it as easy as possible for them to speak up and share their opinions with you :
- Observation
- Point of Sale
- Social Media Groups
- Email and Web survey forms
- CRM software
7. Gratitude
A customer is not always right. It is not ‘OK’ for them to have abusive behaviour. And, there is no necessity for you, your team members and employees to accept any kind of harassment or abuse. Setting up clear boundaries for customer support is essential.
Always have a sense of gratitude both towards your team and the customer. They both are the reason why your start up is existing and is going to grow.
Actively seeking and taking action, however small or big, on the feedback from a customer will make sure they fall in love with you.
8. Under-promise, Over-deliver
Just like this article, where I promise only 7 tips, yet now I give one more to bring more value than what I promised. You too can plan your execution strategy in a dextrous manner so that the customer ends up with a happy ending.
Like any cliché children’s fantasy storybook/movie, getting the feeling of “And, they lived happily ever after!” at the end is very important for any transaction you make with your audience.
So, these were my thoughts and opinions on this topic. Hope you find this interesting and it adds value to your start up.
Cheers.
To attend my ‘Branding for start ups’ 1 day program — https://imagineers.art/branding-for-startups
To know more about me, Connect with me on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/abishekranganathan/
