A few months into my entrepreneurial journey, I was trying to figure out how to stay in business.

Without connections, it’s tough—especially when your clients are businesses.

Most collaborations in the B2B space happen within internal networks. You need a strong value proposition to gain customers.

So I cherished every client I got.

I did my best to deliver exceptional service and make my clients happy.

Profit wasn’t my priority at that time.

Maybe that was a mistake. I’ve left so much money on the table, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

Some clients referred us to others. Slowly but surely, we built a customer base that kept coming back. Not only that, they promoted our services to their inner circles until we had to hire just to keep up with demand.

Unwittingly, we were able to provide a service people love to share.

Word of mouth is the best marketing strategy

For the first four years of division5, we acquired customers solely through word of mouth. We spent no money on marketing or sales; we just focused on the service we provided and the relationships we built.

It’s a slow way to grow, but it ensures you get the basics right.

To get promoted, you need happy customers. To have happy customers, you need to provide quality service.

It’s simple, right?

This approach forces you to continually improve, stay in business, and grow.

I believe every service-based business should double down on the quality of their service and the value they deliver before jumping into fancy marketing tactics.

Marketing won’t help you if your customers aren’t happy. 

Give give give then ask

As a service provider, you will always face different dilemmas:

• Do I charge for this extra hour spent on a client?
• Should I offer this discount?

I face these questions every day.

But here’s a lesson I’ve learned: Giving first often leads to receiving more later.

Sometimes, offering free advice makes someone come back for your service.

Other times, helping a client without charging for that extra 30 minutes builds a stronger relationship and leads to long-term work.

When people see that you’re invested in the relationship, they’re more likely to invest in it too.

A few years ago, I spoke with a fellow service-based business owner who wanted to charge clients for the time he spent sending them quotes. I don’t judge him—everyone can run their business as they see fit. But if I were deciding whether to work with him, I probably wouldn’t choose him.

Nobody has to work with you. It’s always a choice. So, help your clients keep choosing you.

Make your customer’s success, your priority

When you provide services, it’s not about you—it’s about your clients.

If your customers are to work with you, what value do you bring to them?

Show them you understand their business needs. Show you can help them and they will gladly pay for your service.

Put the customer at the center.

If you genuinely care about your customers and their success, they’ll appreciate it and keep hiring you.

Business is simple

We tend to overcomplicate things but in reality, business is simple. Running a successful service-based business, means getting the basics right.

Provide a valuable service, keep customers happy and serve as many customers as you can.

How do you know you are doing the right things? If you provide a service people love to share, that’s a great indication that you are headed towards the right direction.