Where does your business really come from?

So often I hear people in business say that most of their new business comes from the web.

Now, for some sorts of businesses, that maybe totally be true, but for many traditional businesses that is nowhere near the truth.

For example, when I cross examine some of them and ask, “Where did your last six new clients come from?” the answer often is, “Well, when I think about it, word-of-mouth or referral.”

Now, whilst the last step for a new prospect in finding you may be looking you up on the web, there may have been many steps in them finding you on the web.

For example, they may have been driving past your premises and your sign caught their eye (because all of a sudden, they’re looking for what you have which until now they haven’t been interested in).

Apart from noticing your sign, a couple of days earlier they may have seen the advert you’ve been running in the local paper, or got the handbill you dropped into the letterbox or seen your advert on their Facebook page.

Of course, as I’ve already said these “impacts” mean nothing to them until they have a need or want for a product or service like yours.

Then, all of those impacts or touch points you have created as part of your marketing to get you in front of potential prospects combine to have them saying “Now who was it I saw that had what I wanted?”

That’s when they go to the web, maybe googling you or maybe not, looking for something that looks like your name or your service.

Of course, when you ask them how they found you they’ll say it was the web. And, it’s true, but it was perhaps the last step in the chain of impacts you had on them.

So please, don’t rely just on the digital world to generate your new business. It’s amazing what pieces of the jigsaw there are that assist prospects to find you. Make sure you have as many of them in place as possible.

And remember, if you’re in a traditional style business servicing real people in your local area for real price products and services, then probably referral and word of mouth recommendation still hold the key to great success.

I don’t think the statistics have changed… if you’re in retail, trade or hospitality around 80% of your new business will come from prospects; if you’re a professional (which includes the former categories if you’re really great at what you do) around 92% of your new business will come from referral and word-of-mouth.