Page 125 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

151 Quick Ideas to Get New Customers

Assignment product or service, and
what would be helpful for
Make a 3 × 5 card that you to know?” Let the cus-
simply says Speak Their tomer tell you what they
Language! and keep it vis- want to know and then
ible around your workspace pick up the conversation
as a constant reminder. from there.

Epilogue

You will rarely get in trouble when you let the customer
tell you what they need to know.

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What Gets Repeated

For this quick idea, we borrow a basic principle from per-
sonal influence psychology, which was pioneered by the late M.R.
Kopmeyer. The key principle is What Gets Rewarded Gets Re-
peated. Reinforce that action with a compliment, a comment, a
note, a small gift, or anything that might stimulate them to do it
again. Build on the successes you have with each prospect. As
you reinforce the behavior, they will do it more often.

Christy was a new executive assistant to a hospital admin-
istrator when he handed off a real mess. He asked her to take
his pile of papers, notes, and scraps and turn it in to an execu-
tive report that he could turn in to the board of directors. She
dug in and spent a tiresome day taking his jumbled mess and
turning it into a professional report. When she left it on his

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