Page 27 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

151 Quick Ideas to Get New Customers

the back of each card was a small story about that person, their
history with the company, and their commitment to customers.
They also printed an 8 1/2" × 11" page with pictures of all their
inside customer service people with their names and titles and
extension numbers. Now, when you want to call that dealership
group, you know more about the person with whom you’re deal-
ing. It has been very successful for them, and it will be the same
for you.

Epilogue
One secret tip is to periodically have customer service
representatives and prospects meet face-to-face. It helps to
foster personal relationships, which will make it easier to do
business together.

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Birds of a Feather

One of the most valuable, stimulating, creative, and excit-
ing things you can do is network with other businesses who
operate like you, but aren’t your direct competitors. Even bet-
ter is the opportunity to visit other facilities similar to yours and
see what different people have used as a business model. It is
an opportunity for both parties to learn from their mutual strengths
and weaknesses and to benefit from their successes and their
failures.

A medical clinic in the Northeast has an unbelievable track
record of attracting patients. They have successfully used their
system and infrastructure for almost twenty years, but they
realize that new ideas similar to theirs could have a huge pay-
off. Through a medical association, they were able to identify a

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