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If there is one question that I am asked more than anything else is the question about how to grow your business and take it to the next level. The answer is relatively simple, yet I am amazed at how few people look at their business in the way I am about to share.

1. Sell new customers your current products and services.

   That seems to be the path that most businesses adopt. They are on the constant quest for new customers. There is nothing wrong with that. It’s just that there are other ways to grow a business. I could write a quick 50 pages on the different techniques to employ here but that’s not what this article is all about.

2. Sell your current customers more of your current products and services.

   Many times we have customers who have the ability to buy more from us than they are buying. There are a few different methods to address this issue. First is to sharpen up your employees’ selling skills. Are they suggesting additional items or are they just happy selling one item to a customer? Start to look more carefully at their UPT numbers. Units Per Transaction are the average of individual items that are sold per transaction. If  salesperson #1 waits on 3 customers  and sells the first customer one item, the second customer 2 items and the third customer 3 items, then the Units Per Transaction number would be 2. However, if Salesperson #2 also sold 3 customers but they only sold two of the customers one item and the third bought, their Units per Transaction would only be 1.3. You start to multiply that by 30 days in a month and over a year, you have a significant difference.

   But that’s only one approach. The other approach is to send messages to existing customers reminding them of things they might need or want. This is where a good database marketing system works effectively. It is not about sending slick advertising pieces but rather messages in the form of friendly reminders. Many times a simple message left on a customer’s voice mail or answering machine is all it will take to bring that customer back into the store. This approach works equally as well in selling new products to old customers.

3. Sell your current customers new products or services
   
   This is very similar to selling existing customers more of what you have, but the difference is you have a more compelling reason to communicate to them. New! That’s the best reason of them all. People love new and different products. Are you constantly on the lookout for new and interesting products to offer your customers?

4. Sell new products and services to a new group of customers

   This is very similar to selling your customers new products or services. The difference is you are now marketing to a brand new group of people. Years ago I added a department that just sold bridesmaid dresses. It was a new product line and a whole new set of customers. This is similar to starting an ecommerce business. You are targeting (in many cases) a brand new group of customers. The problem here is that it just takes time to develop. All of us get impatient and then lose interest. We get all excited about a new idea but we forget that it takes time to create the necessary buzz to make word of mouth advertising work.

   Yes, we have all heard of the overnight successes and they do exist but those are more of the exception than the rule.

5. Buy it…expansion through buying another business
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   This is the approach taken by larger companies through mergers and acquisitions. Can it work for smaller businesses? Yes, but unless you have the right people you can trust, it will not work.

Those are the major categories of growing a business. What way do you want to grow?  After years of exploring every one of these approaches I have grown partial to number 2. Selling more to existing customers and, of course, always adding some new products along the way. I say that because you are marketing to people who already know you and hopefully love you. It is the safest and easiest approach BUT you have to have the type of product line that lends itself to repeat customers. If you just sold refrigerators, this wouldn’t work. But if you sold other appliances, it will work just fine.

The choice is yours. I hope that helped and have a GREAT WEEK.