What should you do when you are desperate for paid customers?
You wake up this morning only to receive an email from one of your customers saying that they decided not to continue with your service. No reasons given. That particular engagement alone is worth thousands each month in retainers. The rent is due soon, salary day is within this week too, and that nervous feeling starts to affect your strategic thinking. When you are desperate for paying customers, decisions become random, as all that matters right now is survivability. Medium- to long-term growth can wait.
You start to do lots of things that first come to mind, hoping someone stumbles upon your offer quickly and says yes to it. All you need is just 1-2 paid customers, new ones. That's it. But again, cold outreach to your 30,000 LinkedIn followers in reality takes time, trust, and momentum, which you do not have right now. To make it worse, the cash flow is super-tight, and you need immediate income now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now.
Here's how to fix it.
The honest filters.
What makes people buy? Only 3 reasons. One, when the product or service can solve their real problems. Two, when the product or service can make them more money. And three, when the product or service can make their life significantly better.
Who will buy? Not family members and not friends. In most cases, it’s strangers.
Who will buy the quickest? Those strangers whom you know, and who know you, listed in the contacts and email you already possess.
Based on the above filters, you can do these.
Identify a list of target customers. These are the potential people whom you believe are open to the idea of buying your product or service.
Identify a list of target partners (read: resellers). These are the potential people whom you believe are potential resellers of your product or service.
Identify what sort of offer or promo you can create for each of those two audiences. Firm up the deliverables, the price, terms and conditions, benefits and other expectations.
Craft a clear and easy-to-understand message to each. To the end-customer, it’s about solving their real problems now. To the partners, it’s about them making more money. Highlight that you are having a promo. You wish to onboard a limited set of customers (and partners).
Craft a follow-up message and be prepared to send it across after 5-7 days of the first reach-out.
Personalise each message to each individual or company, and send it across via email or WhatsApp.
Get the idea? Feel free to modify this approach if necessary.
Consider building a strong marketing strategy that generates growth
Do not wait till the very end. When you are desperate for paying customers, decisions become random. Random activities usually don't generate good results.
