By Sophie Cross Members11 ways to win new clients in 20211 Feb 2021 Whether work is quiet for you or not at the moment, there’s no doubt that the dynamics of business have shifted, and continue to shift, faster than we’ve ever known.Over the last year, everyone has had to adapt their working lives to take into account factors like working from home, moving everything online, and homeschooling. It makes sense that your sales process and pipeline also change accordingly to consider the new ways that people are doing business. Taking into account these changes, here are 11 ways to win new clients in 2021.1. Pick up the phoneDon’t underestimate the value of a chinwag to existing clients and old ones. In a world where lots of communication has moved to instant messaging, you can really stand out and make a connection (or re-connection) with somebody by talking to them and (more importantly) listening to them. And everyone could do with a bit more connection in their lives right now.If you find yourself typing out a hefty email to a client, consider picking up the phone instead. If people really can’t or don’t want to answer, they won’t. Schedule catch up calls with clients just to check in with them. People work with people they like and that’s not always easy to tell over written communications. 2. Ask for testimonials, reviews, and referrals Build a mechanism for feedback into your process of working with clients. Not only is this a great way to learn what you could be doing better but testimonials are brilliant marketing tools that you can share on social media. You might even get ideas for additional services you can offer. Ask clients to write you a Google review on your business listing. Positive reviews will lead to you you showing up in Google search results more often and will mean that more people are likely to want to use your services.Ask clients if they would give you a five-star review and if not, what would you have to do to get five-stars? If clients are willing to give you a testimonial or review, they will probably be willing to refer you. Often they will just need a little request or a reminder as it won’t be top of people’s minds to do it but they are normally more than happy to help. 3. Ask friends and familyDon’t be shy to ask your closest network if they know anyone who might need help with accounting. These are the people who know you and trust you the most so if you tell them what you’re looking for and explain what you do best then they can keep their ear to the ground for you. 4. Get PR coverageYou’ve hit the low hanging fruit but now it’s time to get creative! Build relationships with your local journalists. Think about what type of stories they cover and what makes something newsworthy. Jump on relevant trends and consider what interesting information or expertise your business has that it could share publicly. 5. Create a free resource What would be most helpful to your target audience? Could you provide a calendar of useful dates, a planning template, or a mini e-book? This could be a great lead magnet, good for the search engine optimisation of your website and you can use it to grow your email database if you ask people for their emails in exchange for downloading the resource.6. Attend online events The trick to attending events in order to try and win new clients is to make sure you’re attending events where your prospects are and not just where your peers are. If you show up at an event with lots of other people who do the same thing as you then you’re probably not going to get an opportunity to meet potential new clients. If you go to the events that your target market are at then you’ll stand out but you’ll also start to really understand the interests and problems that your potential clients have.7. Use social media Don’t use social media to sell. Use social media to help others, to keep yourself forefront of people’s minds and to show a bit of your personality. It takes a while to get to know how to use different channels and to get used to the etiquette around each. Focus on one channel so that you can tune in to how to use it and what works most effectively.8. Raise your profile as an expert in your field By creating resources, writing blogs, getting press coverage and being an active player on social media in the relevant groups and communities you will start to grow a reputation. Chip away at raising your profile in your industry and positioning yourself as the go-to expert. 9. Choose a nicheIf you’re finding it hard to know where to look for clients, find events to attend or communities to join or you feel like a small fish in a big pond it’s probably because you haven’t specialised enough. Is there a gap in the market you can exploit? The more you niche the easier it becomes to find your target market, to position yourself as an expert in your specialist area and to come up with ideas. You don’t want to be everything to everyone. 10. Do your research Really think about who you can best serve. These might be clients similar to your current clients, industries that you’ve had experience working in, or where your interests lie. Find these types of client and look at their websites, social media and find their employees on LinkedIn. Find out what they like, what events they attend, what they post about, and then tell them how you could best help them. If you have a mutual connection, ask them to introduce you or Hunter.io is a tool you can use to find people’s correct email addresses.11. Ask yourself what’s high and right?If you have lots of ideas for potential clients or ways to find them but you’re not sure which one to start with, use the ‘high and right’ technique. Draw a graph on a big piece of paper with one axis ‘How much do I want it?’ and the other ‘How likely is it to happen?’ Next, write down all your ideas on individual post-it notes then plot them on your graph. The one that ends up the most ‘high and right’ is the one you should focus on first. Further reading:4 mistakes all accounting websites make – and how to fix themStart marketing your business with these 3 tools21 things I learnt about budgeting in my first year of business Sophie Cross is the Editor of Freelancer Magazine and a freelance writer and marketer at Thoughtfully.