New Customers or the Customers You Have

For a week the work that comes in gets done; by evening the time set aside for finding new customers is empty again. The next week it turns out that one of the existing customers has not been by for a long while.

In a small business the effort pulls in two directions at once: finding new customers and keeping the relationship with the ones already there. This article looks at what each path asks for, which one can come forward in which period, and how both can run in the same period.

How the Effort Splits Between Two Paths

Finding new customers calls for outreach and first contact, while working with existing customers rests on remembering and on keeping a record. Both paths take time, but the time does not go to the same place.

The table below summarizes the effort each path asks for and the period in which it can come forward.

What Finding New Customers Asks For

Finding a new customer can require the business to be visible and to answer the first question in good time. Part of this effort is spent outside the work itself, in a place where no one has ordered anything yet.

The first step is where the business is seen. A sign, a word from an acquaintance, a map listing or a search on the internet; each arrives by a different route and each asks for a different effort.

Asking a customer who arrives how they found the business and keeping that as a short note can show which route is answering. We covered how such a note can be kept in our article on how customers find your business.

Answering that first contact is part of this effort too. A customer whose question is answered late may look for the answer somewhere else.

What Working With Existing Customers Asks For

Working with an existing customer asks that what was said before and what was promised stay in mind. Here the effort of outreach gives way to the effort of remembering.

In this relationship trust was built earlier, and the work often does not have to be explained again. On the other hand the relationship does not carry itself; when it is not remembered it can quietly weaken.

The moment a job is handed over is one of the most visible moments of this relationship. We covered the steps of the preparation made beforehand in our article on preparing to hand over a job to the customer; a job that ends cleanly can make it easier for the customer to come back.

A short follow-up after the job ends is part of this effort as well. Asking whether anything is missing can bring a problem into view early and keep the relationship open.

Which Path Comes Forward in Which Period

Which one comes forward can change with the state the business is in that day. In a period when the flow of work thins out, looking for new customers can move ahead; in a busy period, finishing the work in hand cleanly asks for more effort.

Looking for new customers is usually among the tasks that do not look like they have to be done today, so it can fall behind among the work that comes in. We covered how this falling behind takes shape in our article on when urgent work crowds out important work.

In a business that works with the seasons the order can shift from one period to the next: outreach in the quiet months, keeping the relationship going in the busy ones. The rhythm of the work itself can set this order.

Running Both in the Same Period

Instead of putting the two paths in a queue, running them in the same period can also be possible. For that, the effort set aside does not have to be large; it can be small and regular.

1. Setting aside a small share each week

Setting aside a certain hour of the week for new-customer work alone can make it less likely that this work gets lost among the work coming in. In the same week a short stretch can also be set aside for getting back to earlier customers.

2. Keeping the record in one place

When a new customer and an earlier customer are kept in separate places, moving between the two gets harder. A record kept in one place can show side by side who came when and who has not been by for a long while.

3. Leaving a reminder for the follow-up

Writing into the record when to follow up after a quote or after a job can make it less likely that the follow-up is forgotten. We covered how the silence after a quote can be handled in our article on when a customer goes quiet after a quote.

Small Things That Can Push an Existing Customer Away

What pushes an existing customer away is less often a large mistake than a small slip that goes unnoticed in the daily flow. On their own these look small; when they pile up they get noticed.

The same question being asked from scratch each time, a follow-up arriving late or a promise not being remembered can be counted among these slips. Many of them can be headed off with a record and a reminder.

We covered how repeated questions can be handled in our article on when customers keep asking the same question. A ready answer can shorten the customer's wait and cut down on doing the same work again.

Seeing From the Record Where the Effort Goes

Where the effort goes can be seen from the record that is kept rather than from a guess. The plainer the record, the easier it is to look at.

The table below summarizes the fields a small record can hold and what each of them can show.

Looking at these fields at set intervals can show which path more of the effort goes to and which one has fallen behind. The decision is made by the business itself, not by the table.

Summary

Finding new customers and working with existing ones are not paths that stand in for one another; they ask for different effort. One rests on outreach and first contact, the other on remembering and following up. Which one comes forward can change with the period the business is in; to run both in the same period, setting aside a small share each week, keeping the record in one place and leaving a reminder for follow-ups may be enough. The rhythm of the business itself sets this balance.