IDEA: Determine how each of your customers originally came to your company; code it into your system for new and existing customers.

You need to know what draws potential customers to your company. It is important to know what you are doing works and what does not.  Create a field that codes new customers’ reasons for their first visit or contact with your firm. You want to know what you did that was successful and what did not work in drawing new customers to your front door.

Possible ‘reasons/sources’ for their first contact with you provided by your customers (and what you should consider): 

• Magazine/Newspaper Advertisement:  advertisement in industry magazine (advertise more often, more magazines)
• Referral from other customer:  referral from other customer (encourage referrals with customer credits/gift cards, price reductions, promotions)
• Trade shows: brochure picked up at a trade show (sign up for more trade shows)
• Inside sales help:   placed order because the inside sales person on the phone went through and described the manufacturing process in detail for the customer prior to his first order (get this explanation turned into a handout if it is obviously a good convincing piece of marketing),
• Cold calls:   cold sales call, was impressed by the presentation and the examples provided during a short demo by seasoned sales person in the field (train the rest of your group using this demo — create this script so all others understand what works),
• Mailers:    customer phoned in after receiving a mailer a few times describing what your company did with a large telephone number promising free quotes on every page,
• Truck driver contact:    your truck driver dropped off a catalog while he was nearby waiting to unload at neighbor in the same industrial park,  (provide catalogs to all of the company drivers to hand out… they must be considered trustworthy),
• Newspaper article:   your company was mentioned favorably in a newspaper articles (i.e. corporate donor, new product development, association with local college group, etc.)
• Internet search:  Your firm comes up first with a concise well written summary of your firm’s capabilities (well place ad, reconsider more internet ads, or, maybe it is the internet monetizing ad firm you chose which has proven itself very good at targeting your potential customers).