Meeting Clients At Minimal Cost
Going out with people is the traditional way new entrepreneurs meet potential clients. However, as any business person knows, no one is exempt from life’s financial constraints. And these economic limitations might become the obstacles for new and aspiring business folks to employ this method. Such a challenge, however, can be easily addressed by being flexible, thrifty, and practical, which includes using technology for this purpose.
Meeting Preparations
There are many ways to maximize one’s resources when meeting potential clients. This entails, however, clear objectives and a fixed agenda for every meeting. Make sure you set a budget limit or “ceiling” for every get-together with your prospective customers. It is also important to determine where to meet up with them, since this will have a direct impact your pocket.
Though coffee and tea shops are the usual venues for meeting potential customers for the first time, other venues such as food joints can still be used for this purpose. Choose shops where they offer refillable food and beverage items – rice, bread, coffee, tea, juice, soda, etc. This can help you avoid expending more cash than what has been budgeted should your meeting extend beyond your set time. Ordering packaged meals is a good way of minimizing your expenses also. Other alternatives are meeting at parks or going over to your potential clients’ residence and/or workplace, if the situation permits.
Having some info on the background of your potential clients will be helpful in planning your first meeting with them. Acquiring info about them can be done via referrals from other clients, colleagues, friends, and the like. Other sources of information are the internet and other social media. Data on your potential customers’ work history, educational attainment, preferences, etc. can help you “tailor-fit” your business discussion and other activities in line with your objectives and the amount of budget set for your meeting, making your get-together both productive and enjoyable.
The Key To Business Success
It is also advisable to establish initial rapport with potential clients. Every successful entrepreneur knows that the key to any business endeavour is relationship. Communicate with them casually before your meeting. Sending text messages, emailing, and giving them a ring are very good but inexpensive ways of doing this, which can help increase familiarity between them and you.
Set business meetings at your clients’ most convenient time, giving them plenty of time to work on their schedules. When having limited resources though, choose venues that are easily accessible for both of you. Examples of easy to get to but inexpensive meeting places are malls and parks. Also, plan your travel route and modes of transportation well, taking note of minimum fares in the process to minimize travel expenses.
Meeting Up For Business
To maximize your budget, determine how you plan to get to your meeting place. When commuting, it is advisable to take rides and routes that will require you to shell out minimum fares only and save you on transport cost. Vehicle owners might choose to take their own cars if their budget allows it. However, they might also choose to commute, if this can save them on gas, oil, etc. To further save on travel cost, a person can also walk to their meeting place as an option if it is considerably near from his point of origin. This is most pertinent for those who usually commute.
Make sure that you always arrive on time to give a good impression to your clients. This will entail you to avoid passing through traffic prone areas. This also might just require you leave for your place early enough to make sure that you do not get caught in the traffic rush.
Meeting online is another way of cutting on cost that might be incurred in the traditional way of conducting a business meeting. Online meeting and web conferencing, chatting online, sending text messages, and making phone calls are effective and yet inexpensive ways of doing this while continuously building and strengthening business relations, especially after doing the traditional initial face-to-face meetings.
Thus, financial constraints need not limit human individuals from venturing into business and become entrepreneurs. Regardless of the reality of economic constraints, aspiring business people can still find clients either through the traditional and modern way of looking for them. What is needed is careful planning, which involves flexibility, thriftiness, and practicality to make this a reality.
Photo Attribution:
Featured and 1st image by stockimages / freedigiphotos.net
2nd image by David Castillo Dominici / freedigiphotos.net
3rd image by jscreationzs / freedigiphotos.net
