7 ways Miami business owners can increase sales and gain customers

Owning a small business in Miami can be daunting, but it’s not impossible. A seminar at the City of North Miami Public Library gave small business owners key tips about operating their businesses in a way that attracts the most customers possible.

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Takicha and Warrick Roundtree are the husband and wife founders of The Brand Amplifiers, a consulting firm that helps businesses brand, scale and amplify messaging.

The Roundtrees spoke to a group of eight entrepreneurs Thursday about marketing, gaining customers and the benefits of understanding how customers think. Here’s what they shared:

Marketing reflects how many people talk about your business

Takicha Roundtree affirmed the need for small business owners to market their companies so that customers can know how great their work is.

“Marketing is talking about your product, your service, what transformation you provide for people and what is going to change for them,” she said. “No matter how amazing your product is, if you’re not talking about it, then no one will know that you exist.”

Visibility is not the same thing as recognition

Takicha Roundtree was emphatic when she said that just because businesses exist doesn’t mean they will get customers. They can be visible to potential customers, but if they are not recognized as viable options, that visibility won’t matter.

“The problem is almost never the product or the service,” she said. “We assume that because we have this product or service, people are going to hear about it.”

Physical location and being in the right space is key to getting customers

Takicha Roundtree said that most business owners don’t suffer from not having good products or services. Rather, they suffer from not being in the right locations or spaces to connect with customers.

“If you have a product or a service and you’re not getting the right clients, you need to start asking yourself, ‘Am I in the right space?’” she said. “‘Am I talking to the right people? Am I located?’ If you’re a brick and mortar, ask, ‘Am I in the right place?’ All of those things matter.”

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Understand your customers’ psychographics

Knowing how your customers think and their psychographics can be a key way of attracting them, said Warrick Roundtree.

“What are the things that pull them forward?” he asked. “What are the things that repel them? Understanding those things will allow you to shape the language you need to attract them.”

Know what your customers have in common.

Takicha Roundtree said that it is important for business owners to understand what their customers have in common in order to get more sales.

“Your goal as a business owner is to know what your most likely buyers have in common,” she said.

Build your business model beyond only referrals

Takicha Roundtree emphasized the need for small business owners to expand their work beyond people who may know them. Referrals can work, but relying on them for business is not sustainable, she said.

“Anyone that has a referral business understands that it’s not sustainable,” she said.

Specializing in business will lead to more customers

Using a tax preparer as an example, Warrick Roundtree said that business owners that specialize in catering to particular customers will gain more business than those with broader interests.

Following Warrick Roundtree’s example, a tax preparer that decides to focus particularly on doing business taxes will gain more business than one that says they do all taxes.

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“The more niche you are, the more you’ll catch,” he said.