If you are an established business, how much time, resources and energy do you spend on marketing to:

• new prospects in your total market? .......%
• marketing to ideal prospects who are not yet customers? ......%
• to existing customers?......%

StreetSmart Marketers have numbers that look like: 10% of their time and energy to the total market, 30% to ideal prospects and 60% to their existing customers.

If your numbers aren't in these approximate ratios what is this costing you, in lost customers and in lost business that your current customers could be giving you?

Only if you are a new business might you be justified in spending less time with existing customers and more time on new prospects, but be careful to ensure you never ever neglect your existing customers even from day one.

The most expensive thing for any business is acquiring new customers. We know that it costs anywhere between 6 and 10 times as much to acquire a new customer, as it does to keep an old one. StreetSmart Marketers know that the number one reason for customer defection is not poor service or product quality, but because customers feel unappreciated or worse still taken for granted. They avoid this by regularly staying in touch and communicating with their customers. They make it a point to call or contact their clients a minimum of at least once every 6 weeks.

Your customer database is one of your most valuable assets, depending on the size and age of your firm, it has cost thousands or even millions to create it. So StreetSmart Marketers make sure they make the necessary investments in protecting this vital asset. They make sure they have enough information so they can make their communications personal. So, for example, instead of sending out Christmas Cards with just their signature where they get lost in the clutter, they might send birthday cards with a personal greeting, or send a Thanksgiving card with a mention of something about the individual's family or they might even send an Easter Egg with a personal wish. These things cost very little and they can make them stand out from the crowd!

In today's market you must differentiate or slowly die. StreetSmart Marketers know the choice is theirs.