Ways to Find New Customers - Part 2

As promised, I am adding to my series on how to find new business today. For this next one, I am going to encourage you to look for customers where you shop.

Each of us would LOVE to have Sears or McDonalds as a customer, but so would every other printer known to man. The smaller, more local options might be easier to land, and you will have first hand knowledge of how they are (or aren't) marketing themselves and how they merchandise.

Here's a real example. Fruitful Yield is a local health food chain that is owned by NOW Foods (or vice versa) They have several locations in the western suburbs, and do virtually NO direct mail or in-store marketing. If I were selling printing today, I would be on the phone with the president of the company (he is the one who will feel the pain if sales start to slump) and I would talk to him about how I could increase his average dollar sale as well as increase the number of times a regular customer shopped in his stores. Notice I have said nothing about printing - that comes later. I would tell him that with some great offers and a creative campaign, we could mail, use PURLS, and market in-store to help him understand his customers better, stock what they need, and get them in more often. How? With direct mail, a PURL campaign that can be launched by gathering info in the stores, etc. You see where I am going with this?

We all have regular places that we go; for food, for entertainment, clothing, etc. Have you ever noticed how SELDOM those places target you and communicate with you? Use that experience to translate that lack of attention into printing business for you, and increased sales and brand awareness for your favorite retailer.