Last week I was driving Lakeshore Rd in Mississauga. I used go down there quite a bit, but not recently. Then it hit me. I used to have several customers there, but most of them are gone! It got me thinking, in today’s challenging economy, you need to be constantly prospecting for new customers to replace the ones lost due to the changing economy.
I thought I would write a couple of posts about prospecting for new customers. I’ll start the series with a favourite. Its a favourite because its free!
A few years ago, I was looking for a change, so I was reading the Career Section in the Toronto Star. I wasn’t having much success in finding a job for me, but I noticed that there were job ads for technicians from companies I had never called on. I added them to my prospect list, and did pretty well!
Of course today, the newspaper is not the best place to look for job ads. But the internet is great. So here is the tip of the day, check out the job boards, www.monster.ca, www.hotjobs.ca and www.workopolis.com. Remember, you are not looking for a job for you (or maybe you are?), you are looking for jobs that your customers would do. Jobs like instrument technician, maintenance foreman, calibration technician or metrologist for example.
Print out the ad and put it in your follow-up file for about a month out. If you time it right, you will touch base with a new customer shortly after they land in a new job. This could be just the right time for a change. The new person may not have loyalty to the company’s old supplier. At least it is a chance for a fresh start, and the fresh start could include you!
Do you need help prospecting for new customers? Give us a call for a free needs analysis.