End Goal: Make your Very First Sale #

First Impression: #

Everyone has heard the saying “you only have one chance to make a first impression.”  That very first customer can set the tone for your business.  Making a good impression can lead to that customer telling their friends and leading to more business.  Double and triple check you have everything in place and start off on a strong foot.

Customer Types: #

In the technology sector, there are five types of consumers for new technology, but we can use these same categories to apply them to basically any business.

1. Innovators – These are the type of people who are the first to adopt new products.  They are the first one on trend for a new fad, the first to try a new restaurant.  These types of customers hear about a new thing and are excited to try it.  These may be among your first customers.  They will be open minded and as long as you make a good first impression are very willing to give you a shot.
2. Early Adopters – Slightly slower than innovators but still among the first consumers to pick up new things.  They may see a couple advertisements, read one review, or get a referral from an innovator and be excited to try something new.  
3. Early Majority – These customers take a little convincing.  They will want to read some good reviews, get several referrals, or see several solid ads before they are ready to give your business a shot.  They are a little more difficult to get than Innovators or early adopters.
4. Late Majority – These customers really need some convincing.  They will want to see a lot of good reviews, get many referrals, and need to buy into your advertising before they give you a shot.  They will be very difficult to get as a customer, but once you get them in the door you will have some great regulars who will stick with you for a long time.
5. Laggards – These are the hardest customers to get.  They are set in there ways and it will take a lot more than good reviews and advertising to get them in the door.  They will need a combination of reviews, advertising, and personal referrals before they are really ready to go.  The good news though, is once you land a laggard as a customer they will be with you for life.  They are extremely discerning and do not like change.

Grand Opening & Soft Opening: #

You will need to decide on how to open your business.  Some businesses like service companies or b2b will just start day one trying to attract customers.  They don’t have a typical opening.  However, retail stores, restaurants and forward facing customer oriented businesses will need to decide on whether they prefer a soft or grand opening or possibly a combination of both.

1. Soft Opening – A soft opening is when you open your business with limited advertising or even just invite friends and family at first.  A restaurant or retails store will often start out with a soft opening in order to limit the number of customers the business receives in its first days/weeks of business.  The point of this is to make sure everything is working properly and efficiently.  These types of businesses’ demand will grow organically and slowly which really helps build you and your employees confidence as you begin and find a good workflow.
2. Grand Opening – Starting off with a bang.  You advertise for a few weeks or even months before to try to gain as much transaction as possible for day one.  You get as many customers in the door as possible.  This type of opening can give your company a real jump start and if you are able to make a good first impression you should be able to count on many return customers.  However, be wary, if you cannot handle the volume of customers then you are really going to struggle and leave a bad first impression.
3. Combination – Many businesses use a combination of soft and grand openings.  Starting with a soft opening a few weeks before the announced grand opening they will invite friends, family, and discerning customers.  This way they can really make sure everything is in place right before a grand opening.

Initial Advertising Campaign: #

Deciding on a soft or grand opening will help determine your initial advertising campaign.  Remember, you are looking to target those Innovators and Early Adopters, so focus your ads on those types of customers.  You should have developed a good marketing strategy in previous steps be sure to adjust it as needed with the new information you have put together.

Cold Calls/Cold Emails: #

For service based and b2b sales it is time to hit the phones.  We said it before but will say it again, picking up the phone and calling potential customers is the most effective strategy for many businesses.  I know it is scary to pick up the phone and you will definitely mess up more than once, but it is much more effective than emails or impersonal marketing.  That being said, if you have a huge list of emails for potential clients then it is ok to send out cold emails, but do your best to take the time to personalize each one.  Sending out thousands of form emails will not attract many clients.

Follow Up: #

Follow Up, Follow Up and then Follow Up again.  Do not let potentials leads fall through the cracks.  You do need to temper this with not being overwhelming.  Each customer will be a bit different and it will take some trial and error to know how persistent you can be with certain people, but it is much better to get told no because you are being annoying than to not close a sale because you didn’t follow up enough.

If you want more, you can listen to our podcast episode on the topic here:
The Turtlesmith Podcast Episode 19: First Customer