How to Get Customers to Adapt to Your Home Grown Business

You've decided to hang up your business storefront shingle or you've decided to work from home for economic or personal reasons, but you want to maintain an on-going, meaningful and professional relationship with your present clients as you gain new clients.

Here's how to get your customers to adapt to your homegrown business.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ingenuity.

1. First, stay in touch with clients
   • If possible, encourage visits to your home office.
   • Keep in touch with clients by phone, internet and web chatting.
   
   Clients want to know you're operating fully and are there to meet their needs in a style they're accustomed.

2. Second, be a consummate professional.
   • Avoid the appearance of slacking.
   • Maintain regular office hours.
   • Dress professionally at home.
   • Avoid any appearance of personal and professional overlapping.

3. Third, don't stop advertising.
   • Maintain a professional website that's updated regularly with new information. Highlight recent customer feedback.
   • Advertisement to clients through email, blog posts and online webchats.
   
   You clients want to know you haven't stopped normal business activities.
   
   Don't allow a relationship you've built slide through the cracks because you've forgotten the basic principles of business.

4. Fourth, develop methods that encourage clients to interact with each other.
   • Add a forum to your website.
   • Add rating systems to your website or blog.
   • Encourage customer feedback. Post results online for all to see.
   • Photos are powerful, use them frequently.

5. Fifth, avoid the appearance of being a one-man show.
   
   You may not have a typical workforce since you've decided to work from home or closed your storefront location that doesn't mean you will not need assistance.
   
   Your client will expect it.
   
   Right or wrong, clients may feel paid employees legitimize you and your business. Without a workforce, you may be labeled a failure incapable of handling their business needs.
   
   Lack of a workforce cause clients to lose confidence in your business.
   
   Therefore, use freelancers, virtual secretaries and outsource services when necessary. This provides the added security blanket some clients need.

6. Believe in your product and services.
   
   If you believe in your services so will your clients!
   
   Sixth, you may experience a drop in business due to customers inability to immediately adapt to your new style of doing business.
   
   In the end with some ingenuity and effort customers adapt and continue knocking down your door.

[sallyemaycreate]

on 8/29/2009 Excellent tips! Very well written and thorough. 5*****