Every half decent sales person trying to sell you advertising, SEO or data will ask you this question:
‘Do you know where your business currently comes from?’
I must admit that I have asked this question many times throughout my career and my conclusion is that most people don’t know the answer and don’t care enough to actually check, so they make it up.
So if you don’t care and are happy to keep going as long as the business keeps coming in, that is absolutely fine by me. You started your own business, so you can make your own choices. But just in case, here is why I think you should know:
Most SME owners think that growing their business must be done through generating new leads. It is because of this belief that you end up being persuaded to spend money on advertising and marketing schemes. You don’t know for sure if they’re working but are too scared not to spend the money, just in case they are. So knowing where your business currently comes from can save you money and that might actually make you consider it more seriously, mightn’t it?
The case for selling another…
The most common answer to the question of where business comes from is ‘70% of our business comes from word of mouth’ and measured or not this is very true in most cases. But the real killer question is are these new enquiries or additional purchases from existing clients?
If the answer is new enquiries than you need to consider how you currently communicate with your existing clients. Increasing the number or value of purchases coming from your existing customers is easier than finding new clients and it will not be as expensive and time consuming, making it a lot more profitable.
So next time you are considering your business development plan, make sure you consider the opportunities within your existing database. There are many strategies you can use but whatever you do, you need to look at the following;
- Understand your target markets
- Develop your database
- Create an e-mail marketing strategy and plan
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