Where Did YOUR Last 5 Customers Come From?

by Denise Ryder

A while ago in a seminar I was giving on marketing tactics, I had all the
attendees write down where their clients came from. It was quite an eye-
opener for many of them, because in some cases they had no idea.
Hmmm, what does that tell you??

In a few cases, people realized that their clients came to them as a result
of a referral and in many cases, from just one person.

So, how about you, where did your last client come from?

Do you know? Can you tell me without hesitating?

Keeping track of where your clients come from is the first step in developing
an effective marketing strategy: keeping track of what is working for you.

If you don't know where your customers/clients are coming from then how
can you determine what is pulling for you and what isn't?

Here is a little exercise you can do, it takes about 5 minutes tops. Do not
do it in your head. Here is a little form you can take and use it for your own
business:

Where did my last 5 clients come from?

----Start Form----

Client #1: _____________________________________
How Obtained? ________________________________

Client #2: _____________________________________
How Obtained? ________________________________

Client #3: _____________________________________
How Obtained? ________________________________

Client #4: _____________________________________
How Obtained? ________________________________

Client #5: _____________________________________
How Obtained? ________________________________

-----End Form-----

Now once you have filled in the blanks, look your list over and where you
are getting the bulk of your clients from. Is it from:

a particular ad in a specific newsletter
a specific autoresponder eCourse or Report you have on the go
a referral from another customer

By doing this little exercise you can determine again, what is pulling for you
and what isn't. If you are advertising in a newsletter and you see that you are
receiving clients from this tactic, then it stands to reason that you will keep
using it. If you find that a tactic isn't pulling then you have one of two ways
to go:

1. either adjust (especially in the case of an ad)
2. drop it

In the case of receiving clients by referrals then take the time to ensure you
"thank" those who have referred business your way. A thank you goes a
long way and of course it's good busines ;o)

Take the above exercise a step further...

Look at the list again. Does that list represent where all your clients come
from? If not, then add onto that list by adding another section "Where Other
Clients Come From" (for example, you could receive customers by attending
networking mixers, maybe some offline marketing...wherever you get a client
you should be tracking).

Once you have a good list of sources then go yet another step further and
write down a few things you are willing to do to get more clients from those
sources.

This little process will show you what is "working." Once you know that a
particular tactic is working for you, then it stands to reason you would want
to brainstorm a little and figure out how to make it work even greater.

But...

You can't do that effectively if you don't know what is working. The only way
to determine that is to ... TRACK!

About the Author

Denise Ryder is a Marketing Coach writing from her home
office in Northern Ontario (Canada). Hey...are you a do-it
yourself marketer? Are you struggling a little? Need just a
little help??? Can you imagine how far your business could
grow with a Marketing Coach in your pocket??? Take a no
cost Test Drive TODAY!!
http://www.profitspace.com/coach