Page 196 - 101 Ways to Market Your Business

DO YOU THINK LIKE A CUSTOMER?

91 Ask your customers how they heard about
your business

One of the most common remarks I hear from business
people is that ‘I tried advertising and it didn’t work’. My
response to this is always the same—how do you know it
didn’t work? The answer is that no one rang or sales did
not increase on the day or something equally as vague. The
only way to really determine where your customers have
heard about you is to ask them. People are happy to answer
this question and, in fact, most are quite impressed that
you care enough to ask.

The only industry I have witnessed that truly embraces
this principle is accounting. Recently I was looking for a
new accountant. I received recommendations for six
accounting firms from business associates and friends and
I proceeded to make appointments to see each of them.
During my meetings every firm asked me how I had heard
about them—and I was glad to tell them.

If you know where your customers are finding out
about your business you will soon know what marketing is
working and what is not. Keep a note pad by the phone
or cash register so that you can write down each and every
response. Train your staff to ask the question and make
sure that they get into the habit of writing the response
down. If it is not recorded it is not accurate.

An interesting story that comes to mind is about an
old client of mine. They ran a ‘shop-a-docket’ promotion
where they offered a 50 per cent discount on admission to
their tourist attraction. The promotion ran for twelve
weeks. Halfway through the promotion they rang me to
say that it was a complete waste of time and money and
they were very disappointed—they said they had only
collected five coupons. I was very surprised by this as I had
used this form of advertising in a similar way in the past
and it had worked very well.

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