Filling your pipeline with leads, attracting new clients, re-engaging existing clients, and growing revenue require an ongoing reinvestment in your business.
For years, the fall season for our family meant making the annual trek to Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm to go for a hayride, pick out pumpkins, and eat delicious fair-style food. The kids always looked forward to feeding the animals in the petting zoo, running through the corn maze, getting their faces painted, watching the pig races, and riding the miniature steam train through the almond orchard and 67 acres of pumpkins.
Visiting Bishop’s Farm was a tradition, and between school field trips, birthday parties, and family outings, we’d end up there at least a few times every year. And every year, there was something new to see, do, or experience.
Bishop’s Farm regularly reinvests its earnings back into the business to enhance the customer experience, surprise and delight families, and help you part with your money.
The classic pumpkin patch experience is the quintessential reason people go to Bishop’s Farm. But the reason we all flock there in droves — and drive past other pumpkin patches to get there — is that every year there is something new and every year it gets better.
- Over the years, upgrades were done to add more shade and picnic tables for guests, combat mud during the rainy season, and improve the parking experience.
- One year the reinvestment went toward the dining experience. We arrived to find a huge concrete area, permanent buildings dedicated to new and different types of foods, and fencing and gates to help create lines and move customers through food lines quickly.
- Other years, we arrived to find all-new attractions for the kids — a giant mountain to climb with a big slide, a carousel, pony rides, and even a zipline.
- Another we arrived to find new stages for entertainment and live music, and still, another, saw the entire petting zoo area overhauled and improved.
The family behind Bishop’s Farm has truly embraced the power of a captivated, tradition-loving, emotion-driven audience to turn a profit. They continue to attract new customers every year and keep people coming back annually through continuous reinvestment in their business to improve the customer experience.
Reinvest In Your Buiness For Sustained Growth
For freelancers, digital entrepreneurs, and small business owners, competition is fierce, and sticking to the status quo isn’t an option if you want to land larger clients, raise your rates, and grow your revenue. Filling your pipeline with leads, attracting new clients, and reengaging existing clients requires an ongoing reinvestment of profits, time, and energy into the business.
As we near the end of this year, I encourage you to think like the family that owns Bishop’s Farm. Evaluate your business and ask:
- Why do people work with me, hire me, buy my products, or invest in my services?
- What emotions do I evoke with my business, products, and services?
- Why do customers come back? And, why do I want them to come back?
- What makes the customer experience special or memorable?
Then, as you look to the future and consider your success and continued growth and profitability, ask:
- How can I generate more qualified leads?
- What can I do to ensure new customers feel great about their decision to hire me?
- What can I do to improve business operations next year to make my job easier?
- Where can I streamline processes to improve client experiences?
- How can I create opportunities to surprise and delight customers?
- Where can I increase the value I deliver?
- How can I get clients to spend more money and increase lifetime client value?
- How can I make repeat customers feel special and appreciated?
Your competitors are actively working to improve their businesses and you need to do the same.
They are investing in programs like Profitable Project Plan to add systems and processes that improve project management, streamline client management, and enhance the client experience. They are going to conferences and attending webinars to up their game and learn new skills. They are securing partnerships, experimenting with new tools and technologies, and testing new ideas.
As a business owner, you can’t just sit back and wait for clients to show up, especially if your business also supports your family and pays your mortgage. Instead, you need to reinvest in your business to set yourself up for long-term success. And while financial reinvestment is one way to do it, if you don’t have the budget yet, that’s okay. You can reinvest in your business by dedicating a specific amount of time every week or every month to work on your business rather than in it.
