Page 148 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

Quick Ideas 118 to 119

119

The Early Bird

Gets the New Customer

Staying on the cutting edge of changes, new products, ser-

vices, and new technologies is a must if you want to be per-

ceived as the best resource for prospects and customers. It

takes real work and a commitment from everyone to keep up

with all the changes in our world today.

Tom operates a group of

Assignment successful retail stores
spread across Iowa and Wis-

Make it a point to be the consin. He believes one of
most informed and up to date their marketing advantages
in your industry. Provide comes from making a major
your staff with the tools and effort to monitor the indus-
insist they use them. Make try for new information and
your sales staff the people changes that are happening
with the latest information in their marketplace. To keep
about your industry. Your up, he and his crew receive
customers and prospects will a variety of trade publica-
learn that you can be de- tions each month. They are
pended on to have the most always walking the aisles of
up-to-date information in the trade shows and manufac-
industry. turers’ exhibits, and they
carefully monitor manufac-

turers’ mailings to see what

is new. They also invest in

several newsletters, including a daily fax bulletin that keeps

them informed of what is going on in their market. His sales-

people frequently know days, weeks, and sometimes months in

advance, long before their competition even gets wind of what

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