Don't look further than your own backyard

Often we get caught up looking for customers in all the wrong places.  When we need new customers, we panic and launch random cold-calling and direct-mail campaigns that, in the end, don't really produce.

The reality is, you don't have to look any further than your own backyard.  Your business touches many people throughout the year.  Inquiries about products and services, trade shows, networking opportunities--all these contacts are golden nuggets.  But how can you find them if you don't know where you buried them?

You need to draw up a "map" and track these contacts for future follow-up.  Actually, right now we are working with a customer on a proactive marketing program.  Initially we looked into purchasing a list, but quickly realized that the data wasn't ever going to be an exact fit.

After some discussion, we began researching inbound calls and e-mails from the past two years.  There, right before our eyes,  was the buried treasure we'd been looking for.  It uncovered more than 600 names at 250 different companies--most important, they already knew about us.  The next step was a dynamic e-mail marketing program to heighten communication and the education process.

While it may seem obvious, these glorious golden nuggets usually get overlooked.  So take some time to look at past contacts.  You never know, you may discover a gold miine.