Starting a business might seem like a cakewalk when you’re in the planning and implementing stage, after all, all you need is funds, ideas and a team. However, the real struggle lies in scaling your business. Right from advertising, marketing to interacting with your customers on a regular basis can take a toll on your business growth if not planned in advance. To save you the hassle and worry, we’ve come up with 5 sure-shot ways to grow your business and take it to the next level quickly. Here goes. 

  1. Get to know your target audience 
  2. Offer reliable customer support 
  3. Research your competitors 
  4. Use social media effectively 
  5. Build an email list  

Let us now look at these ways in detail:

 

  • Get to know your target audience:

 

Knowledge is power, and this is especially true when it comes to growing a business. Customer is the king and it is imperative that you understand your customer when it comes to scaling your business. 

One of the ways you can gain insight into your customers is by way of asking for honest reviews and feedback. If you have a sales or support team, then they can contact your customers for reviews. Another way of getting feedback is to send an email to all your customers with feedback or survey link. As a practice, you can do this exercise once every quarter or if any new changes are rolled out. This not only helps you personalise and enhance your services but also goes a long way in building meaningful relationships. 

 

  • Offer reliable customer support 

 

Nothing is perfect, not even your products and services. No matter how much you want to offer the perfect experience, not all customers are able to navigate it. At such a time, impeccable customer service is the key to all issues. Reliable, expert and always available customer support goes a long way in making a difference to your customer’s attitude towards the business they are engaged in. 

Take, for instance, you run a small e-commerce business selling paints of different kinds. One of your customers is a newbie in the paint industry and wishes to inquire about them. Your customer support should be the first go-to choice for the customer when in doubt. What this achieves is, not only does the customer remember the great service but is likely to recommend your business to others. 

Some of the ways are 24×7 call, chat and email support, getting in touch via personal messages on your social media accounts, and so on.

 

  • Research your competitors 

 

Competition helps you flourish, as well as, keep you on your toes. When growing your business it is important that you research your competitors so that you are up-to-date with the market and what your customers expect. 

Researching your competitors helps you gain better insights on your target customer and their expectations. It helps you analyse what is lacking in your business and how to overcome it with useful strategies. Some ways you can research your competitors is by following their social media handles, subscribing to their website/blogs/email lists, etc. However, it is important that you leverage the insight you gain otherwise it won’t be of much help.

 

  • Use social media effectively 

 

Social media in today’s day and age is a powerful tool that can help make or break your business. The right use of social media can be effective in helping you connect to your customers (current or prospective) in a friendly environment.

You can share content, videos, images, provide relevant and timely support on chat or engage in live conversations to engage your target audience. At the same time, relevant use of hashtags can take your business places and also help in finding the right influencers. 

 

  • Generating leads 

 

One of the easiest ways to scale your business is to generate leads. There are several ways of generating leads, like installing a live chat option and contact numbers on each web page, including testimonials and customer feedback in the website footer, a pop-up offering customers incentives or to subscribe to your blog, using social media channels like Facebook or Instagram with lead generate ads and more. 

In fact, once you have enough leads you can even build an email list and regularly email your customers and leads about your products and services. 

In a nutshell, growing a business takes time and effort along with strategic partnerships and leads. At the same time, make sure that you concentrate on engaging your customers and building customer-centric relationships. After all, happy and satisfied customers are the only way you can successfully scale your business in the long run!