The HARP program is here!

http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/22721/HARP%20release%20102411%20Final.pdf

(866) 413-9477

Finding and attracting good customers isn't easy...

In fact, at times it seems to be a business owners nemesis. There are a few things one MUST consider before setting out to accomplish this task. 

First, you have to be willing to pay for good customers. To find out how much, do the math... Total dollars spent with your company, subtract cost of goods sold. Subtract your desired profit margin, what you should have left is reasonable amount you could spend to acquire a new customer!

Second, take a look at your sales approach. Do you hard sell people your product or do you wait for them to ask you how they buy it? If you’re a salesperson, you'll be able to keep your acquisition cost's low. If not, well then you’re just going to have to come to terms with spending more money to get someone else to do it for you. Maybe it's the marketing piece. Maybe you'll have to hire sales people. Either way it's more cost effective to do the work yourself. 

Now that you know where you stand you can start asking around about what marketing programs fit within your acquisition cost. You’ll find that the conversations are a lot different than you’re used to. You’ll have shorter conversations with vendors that will prove quickly to be much more efficient. You'll be able to rule out certain types of marketing and advertising because they are out of your realm. Better to know up front than after you've spent a bunch of your hard earned money. 

Once you find the right program. Test it a few times on a small level. Don’t blow your whole marketing budget on a trial. Test, test, and re-test. Once you prove it's profitable, well NOW go blow your budget on it. In fact, you might want to consider getting another credit card because you’re going to earn a lot more money than you'll pay in interest. 

Bottom line: you pay $XXX per customer and you need XXX number of customers per month. Now you know your budget and you can finally, truly, plan for your marketing and feel good about the future of your organization.

Good luck!