A Better Way to Find Buyers for your Products or Services eps:24

Many small business owners believe that the way to sell a lot of their products or services is to promote,

promote, promote. They spend hours a week, if not a day, on social media, ecommerce websites and

other avenues trying to get the word out about their businesses. And rightfully so. If this is you or

someone you know, I commend you. This way of advertising has been ingrained in us as the best and

easiest way to sell. But is it? Today I'm going to talk about a better way to grow your business. One that

will give you your time back and help you make more sales in your awesome small business. It is a better

way for you to find buyers for your products or services. 1s I'm Teresa Prem, host of the You First to

Business Second podcast, and I show up every week on Tuesdays for you to help small business owners

and service professionals make more money in less time, with less stress and more rest. 2s Maybe you've

spent money on training, on how to grow your business through social media. Maybe you've seen results

through the power of the Internet. We all have. And you want more results so you can spend even more

time trying to get your product in front of the right eyes and to make sales if only the right person would

see it. Do you think everyone else is doing it? So it must be the the best and easiest way to sell. 1s If

you've made sales in the past in any amount, I'm talking to you today if you are out there serving people

as a restaurant owner, maybe you're a home based creator, a realtor, an electrician or a plumber, maybe

you're in direct sales. I am talking to you today if you see your customer or client face to face, I'm also

talking to you. If you have followed me on this podcast, you know that I have spent two decades in the

real estate industry and even more years in retail management. And if there is one thing I took away from

both of those careers, it's that the customer relationship is important. Not just important, but treasured

valued. And I will go on to say, a gold mine of future sales just waiting there as opportunity for you. That

is what I learned in my 20 plus years in real estate and five, seven more years in retail management. And

desire to share this with you, the small business owner. It is my passion. 2s When you offer your product

or service in any way, say social media or advertising, ETCA. You begin the Customer's Journey into

your world. The Customer Journey is simple, but you must know it and you must continually live in it as

an entrepreneur in order to continually refine your business. Why? So that you can take lots of time off

and sell lots of stuff. But let me lay down the truth for you today, and maybe this is something you think

about all the time, but you don't really express it out loud because you don't want to admit it. That was

me. That was me. So I spent many, many years in this place. On one hand, you want to make more sales,

and on the other hand, you catch yourself saying, where did this day go? Because you ran out of time. 1s

Knowing your customer journey is the first place to start. If you want to scale your business and you

wonder how the how do I want to say it? The other small business owners do it. How do they sell so

much and still be able to take time off? Then the first step in this is knowing Your Customer Journey. I

have a free resource for you to download. It'll walk you through laying out that Customer Journey for

your business. So go to www dot customerjourneyladder ##com to grab that resource. 1s If you are an

entrepreneur who already knows how your customer or client moves into your business world, through

your business world and beyond your world, then refining this is important. Frustrations happen when

there is a gap in the Customer journey. Let me repeat that. 1s Your frustrations happen when there is a

gap in your customer journey. So you want to scale your business and you want to make even more

money, but you still want to take lots of time off, right? So jump on over to www customerjourney ladder.

com and grab that resource. Or you can go right ahead and schedule your free 15 minutes customer

Customer Journey Ladder Audit call with me. Now that you know you need the customer journey laid

out in front of you, then what is a better way to grow your business than to constantly be seeking new

customers? What is that gold mine of future sales that is sitting right in front of you, my friend? It is your

current customers and your past customers. 1s It is those who have trusted you already with their

business. It is those who have exchanged their hard earned money with something of value they wanted

from you. These people are a treasure to you, precious and beautiful. 1s You just need to learn how to tap

into that treasure. Which is what I did in my real estate career. In 2008, during the real estate crash, I

actually had to hire an assistant. Now, the crash started at the end of 2006, beginning of 2007. Here it is

2008, and I hired my first assistant. And I quit answering phones at the brokerage waiting for new leads.

Back then, I sent cards in the mail and postcards, and I still do some of that stuff now. And I called my

past clients to thank them for using me with no strings attached. This helped me grow my business. And

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as hard as it is to express to you, this is really hard for me to say. 1s I think this might be the first time I

said this. There may be an older podcast episode, something about how I made over 8 million in sales 1s

one year, but this is hard to say out loud. I made over $150,000 a year for many years in a row, and that's

truth. And I did not answer phone calls and take new leads or new prospects. And I am bringing what I

learned to the small business industry where it's rarely talked about. I say this often, and you may have

heard me say this it's easier to sell to someone who has already bought from you than it is to a brand new

person. And with money getting tight, gas prices high, inflation rising, and so many choices for

consumers to buy from anywhere, people are craving simplicity, easy decisions. I don't know about you,

but I sure do. 2s When you connect with your customers differently than your competition, not even your

competition. When you connect with your customers differently 1s and just be top of mind when they

need a gift, a dinner, an electrician, a realtor, an insurance agent, a hairstylist, let's go on and on, my

friends. They will call you you, they will use you, and they will buy from you. End of story. 1s So what

can you do today? So what can you do today? How can you apply this today? I want to give you your

takeaway. You know me. Here are the five categories to a simple customer journey. Ready? You might

want to grab a paper and a pen. Number one, attract. What are the activities you do on a daily or weekly

basis to attract prospects? Two, connect. What are the ways in which you connect with these prospects?

Three, convert. How are you converting them from a prospect to a buyer? Four, sell. What does your

sales process include? What are the communication? What's the conversations you're having with your

prospects? We're not going to call them buyers yet because you haven't sold to them. So they're only a

prospect until they're a buyer. And five, follow up what is your follow up communication plan for your

past buyers? I made this simple for you. Don't complicate this. You can start today by laying out your

customer journey to see where the gaps are. Where are you spending too much time? Where are you

spending not enough time? Is your ladder top heavy? I would hate to be on a ladder that's top heavy. And

when you see this resource, there's five ladders. I can't wait. And the ladder on the right hand side is real

tall and there's a smiley at the top. And I would hate to be that smiley, that person that my ladder is top

heavy. Do you connect with prospects but they don't buy from you? Are your past buyers not returning to

buy from you? And are they using someone else? A customer journey will tell you so much. And if you

want to download the self paced resource at www.customerjourneyladder.com, it will give you an option

there to schedule your free 15 minutes. Call with me if that's easier for you. I'm going to give you that

choice because some people prefer to be asked specific questions and then you can write them down

when I ask you those questions on the phone. It'll just take 15 minutes. But whatever you choose, I am

super proud of you for what's you're accomplishing in your business today, my friend. Until next week, I

am Coach Teresa Prim. That's thankful to be in business, Coach.