How often has this question been asked by you, your boss, your sales manager, or someone else?

The only one who really knows the answer is your former client.

So, why don’t you ask this person why s/he no longer buys from your company? You might get lucky and find a client who is prepared to talk, but keep in mind that s/he has moved on and may not want to talk to you.

Also, your customer probably will give you only one reason, then thank you for your efforts and wish you well.

How much have you learned? Not much at all.

Recently, I lost a client for whom I had created a suc­cessful direct-mail campaign. This marketing effort had produced a nice 1,148.85% Return on Investment (ROI).

Later, I found out from my client she was upset with the slow response that she was getting from me regarding a marketing questionnaire for which she had paid. After answering the questions, my client wanted her market­ing analysis, but we just couldn’t seem to find a mutually convenient time to get together.

Ultimately, I gave her a refund on the questionnaire and we parted friends.

However, to this day I feel that there had to be some­thing more. Maybe there was a hidden “decision-maker,” someone else who had a final say about who my client does business with or who harbored some ill feeling. I felt very bad when I lost my client because I was hoping that there would be a long and profitable relationship for both of us.

Sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint the definite reason why someone chooses to stop giving you his/her busi­ness.

It can be hard to determine what complaints s/he had about you that led to the decision. Oftentimes, you are left with very little information. Working backwards to discover what went wrong can be very difficult.

However, if you are prepared to ask a new client for a lit­tle time after the first sale or, even better, after s/he has been buying from you for awhile, then you probably can determine the things that keep him or her coming back and buying from you.

After the relationship with your client gets past the new phase and is “long-term,” ask him/her why you get his/her business. There will be many reasons, not just one or two. You may have to probe a little, so ask some open-ended questions. I’m sure that it will be worth it.

Build a file or a database of the answers that you get—the reasons why your clients came to you, of course, but also (if possible) the reasons that they stopped using your competition.

Learn from their answers and discover what you can do to prevent clients from going somewhere else. You can benefit by using what you have learned with your next prospect. This information will help you to convert him or her into a new client.

What are you willing to ask your clients about?

5 Ways To Stretch Your Marketing Dollars

B2B businesses seem to have much smaller marketing budgets then B2C businesses.

If you are a B2B business looking for a few ways to stretch your marketing dollars, here are 5 to get you stretching.

5 Ways To Stretch Your Marketing Dollars

1. Use the ads you create in other way besides publication advertising. When you run your ad pay for reprints (they are very lows cost) and mail your reprints to clients and future clients. Also turn you ads into data sheets by printing feature data on the back of your reprints.
2. Don’t change a thing. If your ads are working, keep running them until they stop working. You’ll get bored with them long before your future clients.
3. Pay your suppliers on time. Taking advantage of discounts and avoiding costly late fee can save you a lot of money. Plus, you’ll build your reputation leading to referrals and better service from your suppliers.
4. Don’t get to fancy with your ads, brochures and marketing. Many times going overboard will turn off potential clients, especially in the industrial marketing. Concentrate on your headline and offer, they are far more important then the bells and whistles.
5. Do it yourself. The everyday marketing tactics such as distributing press releases, updating your marketing plans and meeting with media resources can all be done by your or and administrative assistant or even a virtual assistant for some of the repetitive tactics.

If you had to choose just one of these dollar-stretching ideas, which one would you do first?

By the way www.FastMarketingPlan.com is getting close to being completed. I’m shooting for a November 30 launch. So click on the link above and sign up for updates and you’ll be in the front of the line for a 30-day $1 trial where you’ll love building all the marketing plans you need, FAST and the best part, you’ll get reminders and help every Monday morning about your upcoming marketing tactics to kick into action

© 2009 Sanford Jay Barris

What marketing efforts are your competitors using?

• Call your competitor on the telephone and pose as a prospective client.
• Talk to their sales staff
• Ask the right questions and most salespeople will tell you exactly what you want to know about their business. Many salespeople love to talk about themselves and their business. This can help you with your research.
• Collect your competitors’ brochures, ads, and sales letters.
• Record their voice messages and their radio and TV commercials.
• Visit their booths at trade shows and go to their showrooms.
• Also, check out their Web site(s).
  Most Web sites will give you a lot of information about how the company does business with its clients. The site may even provide a list of clients, which can become a great “target list” for your own sales efforts.
  While visiting the Web sites of your competitors, request more information regarding their companies and their products/services. Then, keep an accurate record about how quickly they respond.

The following secrets are not in any order. Each is valuable on it own or combined with other secrets. I highly recommend that you do combine them because when combine your multiply there strength.