Mark Beckett Walmsley Marketing ideas, expertise and experience.

It occurs to me that there are three main ways in which new or additional business can come to you: You go out and find it (Hunting) It comes in through referral or inbound marketing activity (Trapping) You can up sell and/or cross sell to existing clients (Farming) 1 is hit and miss. Mainly miss! 2 is difficult to predict, if at all. I've heard it said that it's easier to get £100 from an existing client than £1 from a new one. That's certainly been my experience. In 2013 I devised and conducted a client satisfaction survey for one of my clients. As someone not closely involved with the day-to-day management of the projects, I found that the clients were much more open with me than they would have been with their agency-side account or project manager. From a list of 11 clients, I identified two accounts that were at risk for reasons of chemistry which we were able to address. Had we not received this vital feedback then, one or both of the clients may later have decided to go elsewhere before we had a chance to fix the problem. I estimate that we avoided losing two clients and well over £200k of hard-won and profitable revenue per annum. But of much more interest was what I learned about future client plans, about which the account teams had little or no knowledge. I estimated that the plans had a total value of £4.2m. More than half of the clients were unaware that an existing trusted partner (us) had the capability to deliver against these plans. "Really? I didn't know you did that" My client followed up these leads and in the 12 months that followed, closed 65% of the additional business. So ... get someone unconnected with your day-to-day operations to conduct client satisfaction surveys. Your clients will be pleased that you value their satisfaction and that you don't take their business for granted. You might also find some hidden treasure just waiting to be picked up. If you'd like to see the survey questions or have me survey your clients with the new business radar on, drop me a line. It doesn't have to be costly. You could save clients and fill up your future order book. Don't hunt! Trap and farm. Mark Walmsley (Consultant Marketing Director) mark@markwalmsley.co.uk www.about.me/MarkWalmsley

In my work as a marketing consultant and coach, I talk to business leaders every day about the challenges they face making their businesses and brands more successful. A modern strategy for digital and multichannel marketing is widely agreed to be essential, but some leap to this before checking their levels of profitability. They try to fill a leaky bucket. I advise my clients to conduct a business performance health check before “turning on the taps”. There is as much to be gained by maximizing profit as there is in smarter marketing, and this should be the first step. Then, when your marketing and business development process has been transformed, the results are magnified many times. The first step is very easy. Make a note of your net profit, then refer to the table below to find your sector. If your profit margin is below the average for your sector then that’s the place to start. If it is equal or greater than the average, it’s safe to turn on the taps.

Spoiler alert! The best answer I ever heard is at the end of this post. I've been on both sides of the interview desk in my career. I've also been a panel judge on a number of award events at which I've interviewed many candidates. I ask this question whenever I get the opportunity. Now ... if you're already thinking about Braille labels, heated racks or different shaped bottles or perhaps placing them all in different, memorable areas of the kitchen. Good for you. That might well work. I ask this question because it helps me identify people who respect the need to inform strategy with research and insight before implementation ... from those who dive straight in to tactics. I remember reading that Henry Ford selected his successor because he was the only person at dinner who tasted his food before he put salt on it. So if you said "I'd go ask some blind people". Go to the top of the class.