Welcome to the thrilling realm of entrepreneurship! If you’re here, navigating the tasks of business ownership and juggling various roles, you know it’s both exhilarating and, let’s be real, occasionally overwhelming. Been there, right? When we launched our studio, one of our prime challenges was consistently securing new clients.
Our Path to Securing Those First Clients
Straight out of the gate, we understood that to secure clients regularly, a portfolio was non-negotiable. Our strategy was straightforward yet impactful – curate a portfolio showcasing 6-9 clients that mirrored our design style, showcased expertise, and resonated with our ideal customers.
The pivotal question: How to book 6-9 clients? We decided to start our journey by offering services at an affordable rate and overdelivering. Here’s where you turn up your customer service up to 110%. What do we mean? To put it simply, create positive customer experiences when they work with you.
Especially in the initial one to three years, the primary goal is accumulating enough clients to build a solid portfolio. This might mean compromises – your dream client might not always be the first in line. But here’s the reality: some of our most challenging clients early on paved the way for connections and allowed us to refine our experience. The tough clients shed light on areas for improvement, and that’s invaluable.
The Art of Over-Delivering
The moment we secured a client project, we knew we had to continue booking leads. Like many entrepreneurs, we were navigating uncharted waters. Familiar scenario? You’re not alone. From that point, our focus was on overdelivering on the project.
Referrals and word-of-mouth leads are golden, which is precisely what we aimed for. To ensure our clients not only returned but also became enthusiastic promoters, we wanted to go the extra mile in our projects.
Now, you might wonder – how much is ‘over-delivering’? It’s about exceeding expectations. While our core services revolve around a variety of offerings, we take it a step further. We serve as guides, supporting our clients throughout their journey, offering recommendations, extra support, and bonus offerings to bolster their success. We stand by them every step of the way.
The outcome? Raving customers who recommend us without a second thought. Even today, most of our inquiries come from word of mouth and referrals. From our experience, they have a good chance of booking.
The Unsung Hero: Accreditation Links
This may come as a surprise, but the tiny accreditation link at the bottom of our completed projects has been a treasure trove of leads. This is why we recommend overdelivering on your projects or services. Inquiries often come in, mentioning they found us through a link on a website they admired. We now include accreditation links in every project. If a client requests to leave off the link, we charge extra for removal because we see immense value in the links.
Bonus: Setup Your Process and Use Tools for Automation
Here is a little something we wish we knew when we first started out. Streamline your process as much as possible. There are great tools to help your business run without having to handle your business tasks manually. For instance, we like to use Dubsado as our business management tool. Dubsado allows you to automate proposals, contracts, client communication, and more. By incorporating such tools into your workflow, you not only save time but also enhance the overall client experience, leaving you more room to focus on what truly matters – growing your business and enjoying what you love to do. We like to refer to this as your genius zone =).
In Conclusion
Securing those initial clients demands time, hard work, and dedication. Every business finds success through different marketing efforts. Our journey started by identifying companies in need of services. Once we had a new client on board, our commitment to over-delivering became our secret sauce. Nobody likes to feel like they’ve wasted their money or made a bad investment. It leaves a sour taste, doesn’t it?
Our process ensures our clients feel genuinely cared for. To this day, we receive great feedback from our customers.
Our advice when booking your first clients? Focus on honing your customer’s experience. Make them feel taken care of. It not only retains clients but also boosts referrals, ensuring lasting success for your business, regardless of the services you offer.
