I’m honored to be part of a pretty amazing mastermind group made up of business owners who run some very impressive companies. We gather monthly to track our goals and air our issues in a safe and confidential environment, learning from one another and having a laugh or two. Not breaking any confidences, one of our fellow business owners recently brought up the issue of trying to get more qualified leads and cringed at the thought of doing cold calls. Don’t we all cringe at that thought?

“If we only had more leads” is a common cry we hear from B2B companies just like his. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the advice some of the other business owners brought forth, since it was very similar to what we tell our clients, translated loosely: focus less on the leads and more on the love.

The truth is, it costs far less to grow when you focus more on leveraging your network of influencers and nurturing your current customers than it does spending your time trying to attract, nurture, and secure new customers. Here are 3 ways you can create a loyalty culture that focuses more on the love:

  1. Use marketing to maintain ongoing conversations with your current customers. You may assume they know everything you offer, but they rarely do. They likely started working with you at a particular point in time to solve a specific need. Over time, your offerings and their needs have changed. They need to hear about what you do.
  2. Ask questions and listen to your customers’ ever-changing needs. During their time with you, your customers have grown. With their expansion, they’re facing new goals, new challenges, and new opportunities. Dive deep with them to find out what these are – it’s likely you have some new solutions that could help them – and grow your revenue.
  3. Let each customer know you truly appreciate what they bring to your business. Gratitude is under expressed and always appreciated. Let them know you care with a hand-written card on the anniversaries of your business relationship. Send them a personal gift at Christmas. Take them out to lunch with the goal to tell them what a great customer they are and specifically how they have helped you make your business better.

Thoughtful outreach, practiced with intention, will engrain a loyalty perspective into your culture. Not only will it pay off with your current customers, but when you do get leads, they will naturally receive the same “loving” treatment and will quickly become enchanted and loyal.

And here’s a big secret: loyalty leads to leads. When you wow your customers with a uniquely excellent experience, they will start telling great stories about you because you are doing something special. Your customers become your greatest lead sources. And leads from an inside source are far more likely to generate the types of customers you enjoy doing business with than those that come from casting a wide net.

Some of the best B2B leads come from within – your customers become your advocates because they have seen you in action! Last month we talked about how to build your sales team without hiring sales people which focused on the power of business “Influencers” and building a solid referral partner strategy to grow your business. Imagine cultivating a leads machine by scrapping the cold-calling game and focusing instead on your customers and influencers. It’s a strategy that fosters loyalty within your business culture, helps you grow with the right customers, who in turn become the advocates that help you build on that growth.

At 5280 Accelerator, we have the good fortune to work with GREAT clients. We genuinely love who we work with and count it a privilege to be a part of helping them grow and see their business dreams become reality. They frequently act as our advocates and bring companies to us. They are key to our growth. If you’re wondering how you can grow from within and build your brand in the marketplace, we’re here to help—just ask our clients!