Your Customer Has Needs You Cannot Fill
Your customer, whether they are an individual or a business, has needs beyond what you can provide. Understanding those other needs may lead you to cross-promotion opportunities or new services.
Think about your target customer. What other products and services do your customers purchase on a regular basis. The providers of these products and services may be ideal strategic partners for your company. They may be interested in cross-promotion or possibly even joint promotions.
For example: A day-care center owner knows her clients (the parents of children ages two to five) need clothing, pediatric services, toys, and weekend activities. She identifies companies which provide these services in her local market. She even asks some of her clients who they buy from in these categories.
Using this list of potential partners, she approaches businesses with joint promotion ideas. An educational toy store or child party planner might be willing to engage in a cross-promotion, offering to trade coupons and discounts.
In addition, she allows her partners to conduct demonstration sessions at her facility. A new pediatrician is willing to offer on site check-ups once a week.
These additional services or activities create a point of differentiation for the day-care facility. They can also be used as source material for a press release which will catch the attention of a local newspaper.
As a small business owner, you may be own your own business, but you do not have to do everything alone. Finding partners who have a common goal: Sell to the same person you want to sell to, can help you grow your business as you help them grow theirs.
Do you have a list of possible partners? Now is a great time to start building those relationships, and networking events, can help you find the right people!
Looking for some new connections? Check out the next Starting Point Event. The first Tuesday of Every Month at Champs at Keystone