1 of Only 3 Ways to Grow Your Business: Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about how your business can grow in only 3 ways, one of which is to get more customers.

Today I'll give you a 4-step process you can to use to get more customers, with God's help.

You can do in under 45 minutes, first thing in the morning or during lunch.

Here it is ...

Step 1: Pray (5 minutes)

Why pray?

If you have to be told, you really need it :-)

Seriously, you pray first because, matter how efficiently you do anything, you'll never be effective if you do the wrong thing.

A humble prayer offered to God for the right reasons, helps you do the right thing -- every time.

Try this prayer for guidance: "Heavenly Father, thank you for the many good things you make possible in my business and in my life. You are the source of every good thing that I have. I ask You now for guidance in growing my business. Specifically, I ask you for ideas to help me serve more customers. I thank you for hearing this prayer and for the guidance you offer, for the good of all involved. I thank you with confidence for the insights you now provide to me, in the name of Jesus Christ, your son. Amen."


Step 2: Brainstorm 20 Ideas (15-30 minutes)

Now comes the fun part. With God's guidance, you will now put pen to paper and WRITE (not type, not daydream) down ideas until you get at least 20. Not 5, not 17 -- 20.

Reason?

By forcing your brain to hand over 20 ideas, you blow past the easy and logical one that are likely to come out in the first 5 or 10. You absolutely will get at least 2-3 creative, new ideas doing this that you would not any other way.

Start by writing this question at the top of a blank sheet of paper: "How can I get new customers?"

Then, start writing. Crazy ideas, brilliant ideas, old, or new, don't stop and don't censor yourself until you get to 20.

You have God's help, remember? You can do this.

Because I'm such a softie, I can't resist giving you a few ideas to prime the pump. So try these for starters:

• Guarantee -- What kind of money-back guarantee do you offer? Can you change the wording? The duration? What other ways can you remove the risk of doing business with your company and make it more attractive for new customers to buy from you?
  
  
• Unique selling proposition (USP) -- Why should people give you their hard-earned money instead of buying from any other competitor in your market?
  
  
• Referrals -- What systems do you have in place to turn your clients, prospects and vendors into a 24-hour sales force, by helping them refer new customers to your business?

Step 3: Prioritize Your Ideas (5 minutes)

After -- and only after -- you come up with at least 20 ideas, it's time to prioritize them. What's the best first thing you could do to get more customers? The second? Third?

Stop with your top three, for now. Otherwise, you'll try to do to much and end up doing nothing.


Step 4: Take Action (5-15 minutes)

Never leave the site of a brainstorming session without taking at least one step toward implementing your best idea.

It can be as simple as scheduling a meeting with your team. Calling your best customer/prospect to ask their advice. Or placing a Google Adwords ad with a new headline you just thought up.

Best: If you have time, sit down and actually put your new idea completely into practice.

But in any case, do something -- anything -- right away to build momentum.


That's it for this 4-step, God-guided process for growing your business by getting more customers.

Next time, I'll share a similar system that grows your business by getting customers to spend more with you.