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Getting more from your top sources of new business Here is a back issue of Marketing Booster, the email newsletter that Richard Groom writes and sends free every fortnight to subscribers. You can subscribe here or read over 60 back issues using the back issues index page. Recently I took a look at the work I am doing, and in particular at who is asking me to do it. If I can understand things like this then it will obviously help me develop my marketing strategy. I have a feeling that the results of my mini-analysis will be similar to many other organisations, possibly including yours. So in this article I share my experience with you, and some ideas on how to generate even more business from these sources. The three main sources of work for the work I am doing are: 1. Existing customers and ex-customers. The fact that you should try to win business from existing clients as well as looking for new clients is something we hear on marketing courses and in the text books all the time - and for me at least it's true. It's great to get work from existing customers. You don't have to spend a lot of time or money on marketing campaigns and usually the work is easier than with new clients because there are clear expectations on both sides. But here's the thing: I consider anyone who doesn't currently have any work placed with me an ex-customer. If I finish a job for someone today and there's nothing new in the pipeline then as far as I am concerned they are not a current customer any more. Why is this drastic difference between current and ex-customers so important? Because: * You will automatically be in touch with current customers as part of the product/service delivery process. * BUT there's no inherent mechanism to stay in touch with ex-customers - unless you create one. It is so easy to find that months or years go by and you haven't been in contact with a customer, even though they were delighted with your product or service. But unless you have a process in place, that's just what happens. I admit it - I am not very good at keeping in touch with people once a piece of work is finished. Unless they subscribe to Marketing Booster, at the moment I don't have a process in place, apart from remembering to send ad hoc emails or make sporadic phone calls. It's something I need to fix, because I am sure that even more ex-customers will re-hire me if I keep in touch. Question: * Do you have and implement a process for keeping in touch with every customer once a product or service has been sold or delivered? (The obvious solution is a customer magazine, but there are other ways to do this.) 2. People I have met. I am working on projects for four new customers this month. Two of them are people I met, in this case when I delivered copywriting workshops through branches of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. I find that over half of my new customers are people I have met, be it at the workshops I run or networking activity. In the business-to-business service sector in particular, customers are often more likely to hire people they know rather than strangers. Question: * Do methods of meeting people play a big enough part in your sales and marketing strategy, or are you totally reliant on winning business from strangers? 3. Web site visitors. The other two new customers this month are people who found my web site and subsequently got in touch. I am sure there are many ways I could improve my site, but I think it gets the basics right. It gives people lots of information about what I do, mentions some satisfied clients and showcases my ability via the free tips articles. It also usually comes up very high in search engine results. But I am aware that there are a couple of things that need changing, especially in terms of adding some extra content explaining what I do and how customers benefit from it. I am sure I can prompt even more visitors to get in touch. Questions: * When was the last time you gave your web site an objective look? * What are your web site's weakest bits? * How could you improve the likelihood of web site visitors going on to make an enquiry? In summary . . . I hope this article has done one of two things: either it's resonated with your organisation's experience of business sources or prompted you to analyse your own situation, if you haven't already done so. |