How to win your first customer
Entrepreneurs are prepared to impress venture capitalists and angel investors with business and financial plans, killer marketing strategies and very skilled team members. But the one thing that really makes a startup successful is the chance of monetizing the idea, which comes as a result of successful sells of the products or services. This is why investors are very interested in the customer network that a startup has in order to decide if they will invest in it.
First customers are hard to win, but they are one very important part of every business venture. Business without customers can’t be lucrative and without profit the whole business venture loses its purpose. Your first customers are the proof that you have potential market place for your product, they are your first source of customer feedback, a chance to get some real life testimonials and they are the start point of spreading the word about your business.
Most certainly entrepreneurs make market research before they start working on the realization of their product. Products and services are created to solve existing problems and to bring value to the customers. You know your target groups and the great news is that you can start building your customer network even before you have the ready product in your hand.
Promote your business in the right manner with the suitable for the occasion tools and specific approach, dedicated to your first customers. No specific advice can be at the same use for different companies, because your marketing tools depend on your business model, but there are some simple steps you can pay attention to in order to win your first customer.
Know who your customer is.
Create specific marketing plan for your first customers.
Start building your customer network even if your product is not ready yet.
Aim at low numbers of customers at the beginning. Start slow, impress and then grow.
Offer them something that they cannot resist to.
Ask for feedback and real testimonials.
Always remember to make sure that you bring value for your clients - from the first one to the last one.
There are many tools that can help you build your customer network and we have already introduced to you on of them - Launchrock. It is very useful tool that helps entrepreneurs to find their customers. Using beta invites or release of open beta versions are also very popular ways to win customers, especially for tech startups. It is great way to introduce potential customers to your business. Offer promo codes and vouchers for your first customers with some exciting offers which will grab their interest. Remember that your strategy has to be implicitly first-customer oriented in the beginning and ready to be developed with the time.