35 Ideas to Spark Your Creativity:

There are 3 ways to grow any business. Just 3:

- Get more customers

- Get more from each sale

- Sell to each customer more frequently.

That's it - everything else boils down to some variation of these 3 activities.

Most owners and managers want to grow their business. Most of them concentrate exclusively on getting more new customers.

Odd really.

There is lots of marketing research that is pretty consistent in pointing out that it costs somewhere between six and twelve times as much to get a new customer as it does to sell to an existing customer.

And once you have a customer it is generally pretty straightforward to get them to buy from you more often.

What's that?

Your business is different. You sell a one-off product. There's no way to get customers to buy more often.

Maybe so.

But I don't think so.

Here are 35 ideas for you to stick in your brainstorming pot, stir for a while, and then see what comes out at the other end.

Customer focus

1. Actively market to your existing customers

2. Listen to your customers - deliver what they want

3. Keep Customers Informed

4. Start A newsletter

5. Superior Customer Service

6. Target Profitable Customers

7. Over deliver On your Promise

8. Priority hot line for most profitable

9. Active Customer Relationship Management

Business Model

10. Target a Specific Niche 11. Look for niches within niches

12. Use Service Contracts

13. Back-End Selling

14. Pre-Sell After First Sale

15. Joint venture marketing

Reward Customers

16. Establish A Frequent Buyers Club And Card

17. Find Out Everything You Can About Customer

18. Competitions

19. Previews

20. New Offers Every Week, Month

21. Personal letters

22. Reminder Schedule

23. Outgoing Calls

24. Private Unveilings

25. Master the Art Of Saying Thank You

26. Sell the Experience As Much As The Product

Promotions

27. Statement Stuffers

28. Bag stuffers

29. Discount vouchers

30. Bring A Friend Free

31. Surprise Offers

32. Appeal to the emotions

33. Make Your Customers Feel Guilty

34. Direct Mail

35. Target advertisements for existing customers

Now I hope you have found something in this list to get your creative juices flowing. But I regularly come across businesses that claim to have one shot products. Most recently I had a high class kitchen design and build company telling me that none of these things applied to them.

They build solid wood kitchen units, equipped them with the best possible kitchen equipment and expected the kitchen to last 20 years or more.

Now I don't know what the figures are like in the rest of the World but in the UK people move home, on average, every 4.7 years. Keep in touch. They just might buy from you again.

And what do you know about your customer. Top of the list is that they want to improve their homes and they will pay good money to get top service. They probably are willing to spend money to improve the rest of their home.

Could you do some joint venture marketing with another, non-competing, home improvement company?

Look around. You will find plenty of other companies that would love to be able to market directly to your customers.

Sure, you are not marketing your own service - but does that matter? If you work a deal with another home improvement company they are certain to pay a commission for each of your customers that buy from them.

Still not convinced?

Contact us - we like a challenge.

Keith Longmire is the owner of JKL Business Growth Solutions. JKL

specialises in bringing main stream business improvement and marketing solutions into the reach of smaller businesses. The Business Growth Solutions web site is designed as a source of information for all matters to do with Small Business Development