Expansion of client portofio: how to best strategize it? – Intelligent Payment Networks
As Intelligent Payment Networks (IPN) moves into its third year of operations, in retrospective, we have changed tremendously in comparison to when we first started out a few years ago. The size of our company increased and our clients are now spanning multiple industries (and growing.) Babson has definitely helped us get to where we are today. Through providing resources, incubator programs, and even office spaces to encourage our growth, Babson is a huge part of IPN.
Being a service-based company, our company really values the personal relationships we hold with each of our clients. We work around the clock to make sure that all our customer issues are solved in a timely manner. Prior to getting clients, the most vital step to our sales process is the networking portion. Since anyone that manages or run a business is a lead and a potential client, we try to speak to as many people as possible to learn more about their process and how we can potentially help them in the future, learning about the industry they operate in at the same time. Even when that lead acquisition fail, we still manage to gather the information about that industry and will be able to work better with that industry from the knowledge we have gained.
The most important thing we learned from running a student startup so far is how to leverage the relationship we have with our current clients. For a startup, one of the hardest things to do in the beginning is to establish a strong client portfolio. Once a strong relationship is established, both sides will mutually profit. Maintenance of good relationships with client is equally important, if not more. A major benefit we get from maintaining such good relationships is the opportunity to expand our client base through referral networks, made possible by existing clients.
To run a successful business, it all boils down to just putting yourself out there. At first, talking to strangers at a networking session or even at a restaurant might seem very intimidating but it is an art that can be learned through practice and gets easier every time. As your network grows, so does your business and ultimately your brand and success.