5 Strategies to Acquire Your First 10 Customers
Let’s re-live a typical startup journey. You had your “Eureka!” moment, founded your very own startup, researched and built something that was fit to hit the shelves. But is it time for you to take the pedal off the gas? Not so fast, fellas.
You may believe that you’ve built a product or service worth boasting, something that can (kind of) sell itself. But do your potential customers know that? Rather, do they know you even exist? Worth pondering over.
It’s good to have faith in what you’ve created but it’s even better to have it validated by others. And by others, we don’t just mean anybody, we mean actual, paying customers. They’ll be curious, honest and even blunt but let’s face it- that’s exactly what you need.
One of the first major hurdles is getting the first 10 customers to pay for your product. You’re new in the market, so, you’ll invariably have to spend a lot more time convincing them to trust you.
And why are we focusing on the first 10? It’s because, if you succeed at making your first 10 customers happy, you can begin to scale it up from there through similar strategies and word of mouth. Let’s see some ways to acquire your first 10 customers.
Exploit Your Network
Strike a conversation with those around you- your friends, acquaintances, coworkers, friends of friends and so on. You can use your social media (especially the likes of LinkedIn) too in order to find more potential customers. They are your best bet because they are likely to take the time out to talk to you.
The trick is not to engage with them as a salesperson, rather, speak to them with the purpose of understanding if your product can help them. If they discuss their pain points, tell you why current solutions are not working for them, you can go on to show why your product can be what they’ve been looking for.
Such an approach will be helpful in making sales because you not only hear the other person out, but also suggest a viable alternative. Additionally, it can also be a great learning curve. No matter how many people you interact with, you will always find potential areas of improvement, different customer issues and opinions. Customer interactions never go waste.
Use Your Mailing List
No matter the discussion around emails becoming obsolete, they are still considered an important tool for marketing and reaching out to people. Cold emails, too, are very much in play. If you’re just starting out, cold emailing and calling are pretty much unavoidable for obvious reasons.
As you interact with individuals for different purposes, ask if they would like to be a part of your mailing list and stay updated. Have a call-to-action for the same on your landing page too. The most crucial aspect to take care of is the way you write your emails. Don’t expect others to open a mail that you wouldn’t.
Make sure that your subject grabs eyeballs and your tone in the email body is relaxed. Again, let it be a conversation of sorts, allow the reader to come back to you with his or her interest. There is no dearth of information on how to make emails interesting and appealing. Make an effort to see what’s working for you and stay consistent.
Everyone Loves Freebies
Who doesn’t like free stuff? It’s a no brainer. Freebies act as a great incentive for people to hop on board and try your product. Now you might not have deep pockets so early on so it’s hard to spare too many resources for this, but it’s up to you to decide limits. Be creative in what you offer to your prospective customers and see the magic happen!
You can offer small gift vouchers with the first purchase customers make, a special discount code, some additional products or features, a free premium trial or a discount coupon for the second purchase. The possibilities are truly endless. Such incentives are sometimes enough to push the customer over the fence and give you the sale you wanted.
If your incentives allow the customer to learn more about your product or service, who knows, you may even get more sales through them in the future. The incentive should be just enough to ensure that the customer makes the first purchase. After that, what you have created should be enough in itself.
Leverage the Power of the Internet
The internet is a humongous resource on its own. Your customers could literally be anywhere in the world and you can find them with a click of a button. Use social media, online groups, communities, forums and anything else you can find. Look out for what people interested in your domain are talking about and wanting.
When people post on websites such as Quora, Wiki, Reddit, StackExchange and even Medium, converse and spread awareness about what you’re doing. You never know how many people actually take interest and become your first paying customers. Again, remember to not talk like a marketer or a salesperson.
Another very popular method is to write blogs. As you respond to people on the above-said websites, try directing them to your website blogs so that they learn more about you. If you’re writing good, helpful content then you have a great shot in generating interest for your product. It will take additional effort but the rewards can be pretty good.
Referrals, Testimonials and Follow-ups
When a startup is young, more than the product, it’s the team that is marketable. As founders, you have to be proactive in getting referrals and testimonials from those who can vouch for your credibility. These can be people who know you well personally or professionally and can introduce you to the right people and put your abilities in the spotlight.
The second set of referrals and testimonials should come from your first 2-3 customers. Be very consistent in following up with your customers and ask them for their feedback. These customers can be your flag bearers so don’t assume that your job ends with the sale. If you get good feedback, politely request your customers to refer you to others who may be interested.
Try setting up a referral program early to give added incentive to your customers. While it’s hard to get it right the first time, having some system in place can be enough for the initial stages. It has been widely seen that prospective buyers seek validation from existing customers by way of reviews and testimonials. Encourage customers to write reviews through your follow-ups.
Bottomline
The fact remains that customers won’t find you, you have to find your customers. While it is no easy task to convince prospects without any traction, using such strategies smartly can bring you one step closer to success.
It is also naive to assume that the first 10 people you talk to will become your first 10 customers. You will probably need to hustle much longer and interact with many more people before you reach your milestone of 10. But most importantly, learn and enjoy your startup journey. What is 10 now will soon be much, much more. Stay on top of your game at all times!
