By: Jim Newell
I’ve always been impressed with businesses that can start up in an already crowded niche, and grow very rapidly. I’ve seen many examples of this, is it just luck, or is how they go after the customer? Businesses have different ways of attracting new customers and interacting with their existing customers. It may possibly be safe to say that no two businesses use exactly the same methods; however all use some combination of 3 basic approaches to acquiring customers or prospects.
These 3 approaches to new customer acquisition are;
1) Passive – Some businesses are completely passive, waiting for the phone to ring or some other way of letting customers, both new and repeat find them. These businesses are taking a reactive approach to customer acquisition and retention.
2) Active – More successful businesses will engage in advertising, promotions and other forms of letting potential customers know what services they offer. These businesses are taking an active approach, and are by far with the vast majority.
3) Pro-Active – These are the businesses who if they do not find conditions that exist already to make them grow, they create their own. The superstars take a pro-active approach, they look for things they can change or markets they can create to attract new business.
Here is a mythical example. A balloon manufacturer decides to start a new plant in a medium size mid-America city. While researching where to locate he decides to build his plant in the inner city area. He opens and sends his sales people out to flower shops, gift card shops, local restaurants etc., anyplace that might sell, or benefit from giving away balloons. He has some success, but knows there is more business out there. He discovers that his city has 2 annual parades that use the same route through the city and come within a few blocks of his business. He sends a few people out to the parade route to sell balloons to the gathering crowds. Again some success, he has created a new market for his balloons. A couple of years go by and he sees that the sales along the parade routes have tapered off. He decides to petition the city to route the parades past his place of business, which they agree too. He approaches many of the other businesses along the new parade route to advertise on his balloons, and sends more of his people out along the parade routes to give the balloons, with the advertising on them, away. Huge success, he has now created a flood of business customers who benefit from his advertising balloon giveaways and expands that idea to other venues.
In this mythical example we see all 3 approaches, some businesses will progress through all 3, others will just start with the pro-active mindset. Any bets on which will become the super-stars? The CommonSenseMarketer will naturally start with the pro-active mindset.
- Passive – If our balloon manufacturer had taken this approach he may not have survived his first year.
- Active – Back to our balloon entrepreneur, he recognized that the parades were drawing crowds of prospective customers into the inner city area and just put his balloons among them.
- Pro-Active – Our start up balloon manufacturer got the city to change the parade route bringing more exposure to his business, he approached the other businesses along the new parade route with a novel way of increasing their exposure.
It does not matter if you are an online marketer or a “brick & mortar” entrepreneur, the methods for employing these strategies are different, however they still follow the same 3 basic approaches.
