Stop Looking For New customers, Build Loyalty, and New Customers will come.

Most small business owners, freelancers, home based professionals will stop doing any kind of advertising if they could have 12 to 15 intimate friends in the business category they are playing or in their ideal clients list.

You’ll say, wow, 12 to 15 friends, that’s not a lot. Yes, it’s not a lot, but 86% of small business owners do business mostly with anonymous customers (people they know nothing about), people with whom they have no emotional contact to or don’t keep in touch with.  They are struggling because they fail to make friends, and in business friends are everything.

The Law of the few in marketing states that 90% of your present customers are brought to you by 10% of your contacts (customers, prospects, friends or strangers) who like you. These people are your  Natural advocates. They are your Friends

The new economy is based on advocacy. For example, a Mckinsey marketing study found that 2/3 of US economy is now based on advocacy. Friends telling friends what is hot and what is not. Only 14% of people trust advertising, 69% are interesting in advertising blocking technologies, and 78% of consumers trust one to one recommendation from friends.

What you need to succeed is Friends.

• if you don’t have enough customers, it’s simply because you don’t have enough friends,
• if your advertising is not delivering good results, it’s simply because you don’t have enough advocates to confirm your message to their friends. When a friend asked about your advertising, he is said: ” be careful, I don’t know these people and this is  advertising, the reality may be different. You know … Ads are Ads”,
• if you customers don’t recommend their friends to you, it’s simply because they still think you are a risky business to recommend. They can personally take the risk to do business with you, but they are not ready to recommend you,
• if your customers evaporate after the first transactions, it’s simply because  nothing make you memorable and you don’t remind yourself to them in a memorable way.
• If people don’t listen to you, it’s simply because you don’t have a strong opinion about your business solution and express this opinion with enthusiasm and passion.
• If  everyone forget about you, it’s simply because you forget about everyone.
• If no one remind you, it’s because you don’t remind anybody.

To make friends, start treating people like friends.
Treat your customers the same way you’ll treat a friend. Lit you eyes when you see them, recall their name, remember what they said last time to you, ask about their news based on previous conversations, and share what is hot and what is not hot list, and ultimately  invite for a beer or any other entertainment.

In average a person has 11 to 12 intimate contacts, 150 social contacts and from 500 to 1500 weak ties. Look what will happen to your business if you succeed in the next 12 months to have 12 to 15 intimate friends in the business category you are playing or in your ideal clients list :

If you succeed to have 15 intimate Friends inside your business industry or from your ideal clients list, you could reach up to 24 945 contacts, without measuring the cascading effect.

Go ahead and make Friends and Succeed wildly. Good luck.