Eight Timely Tips on How to Grow Your Business

The times have certainly changed. It was not so long ago when you could open your doors and there would be a steady stream of customers ready to buy whatever you decided to offer them. If they liked your company, they were loyal. Some called them "customers for life."
That day is long gone, as we all know. Today, customers buy selectively. Whether they are business buyers or consumers, they behave the same when it comes to making purchases of products or services:

• They see themselves in charge of the sale.
• They view themselves as free agents, not beholden to anyone.
• Their definition of "good service" is highly individualized.
• They leave rather than complain.
• They don't give all their business to anyone.

Because it takes much more savvy to stay in business today than it did even a few years ago, companies need a competitive advantage. Every customer counts. Lost customers mean lost business -- dollars that are going to someone else.

The big job is to keep pulling more customers closer and closer so they want to do more business with us, while satisfying our existing customers. Here are eight essential tools for growing a business today:

*No customer knows everything you sell. The worst assumption you can make is believing that everyone knows everything you sell. They don't -- and that includes your best customers. How many times do people say, "George, I've been coming here for 15 years and I didn't know you carried that." This is a wake-up call because it means those customers are going elsewhere to buy what you sell.

The goal is to get customers to look to you for more and more of their purchases. This can happen only if they know what you sell. A bank conducted a series of customer focus groups and discovered that customers only knew the products they use. This leaves the bank vulnerable to competing banks that are making offers for other products. It's no different in other businesses.

What can be done to remedy this situation? For starters, check your company's sales records and identify customer purchasing patterns and begin to educate customers on the products or services they are not using. Use e-mail newsletters so you can reach specific customers with specific information. Develop an informational campaign. Along with newsletters, include advertising. Current customers see ads as well as others.

*Make your store interesting for the customer. An automobile reporter had just driven several new Pontiacs and then wrote, "Pontiac still builds excitement." That motto (it's called a positioning statement in marketing) has served the company well for a number of years. When customers visit a Pontiac dealer, they expect to see "exciting" products.

All customers expect excitement today. They run from dull. What does the Rainforest Cafe sell? Clearly, they make it an exciting experience, particularly for families. What can you do to add some zest to your store? How about serving popcorn on Saturdays? Bob Curry at Curry Ace Hardware in Quincy, Mass., has been doing it for years. By noon the floors are covered with popcorn -- and the cash registers are full! Bob discovered that customers come for what he sells but also to have fun.