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Ask An Expert By Warren Coughlin Warren is a business coach with ActionCoach, who is committed to helping entrepreneurs and executives grow themselves and their businesses so they can live the lives they seek. He has been recognized as the Canadian Coach of the Year Award (2005), The Top Performing Coach Award (2006) and as one of the top 10 coaches among the 1000+ coaches around the world in ActionCoach.

Hello! I am about to venture into my own welding shop with a partner. What is the best way to get customers? Grab a business directory and just call? Email? Mail? Go in person? All of the above? Should I contact weekly daily, monthly, yearly?

Thanks,

– Ross

1. Make sure your service rocks! Referrals are the cheapest and most effective form of marketing. You won't get them if your service quality is substandard.
2. Ask for referrals. Too many people think people will just refer you if they like you. Not true. I hate to shatter any illusions, but you just aren't that important in your customers' lives. If you don't specifically ask them, most people won't turn their minds to it.
3. Use what I call a 10x10 strategy. What this means is that you use 10 different tactics, each of which is to generate 10% of your business. (In practice, the percentage of business from each tactic will vary dramatically. "10x10" is just easy to remember.) This allows you to diversify your approach so your business is stable and it allows you to evaluate which tactics work better than others.
4. Test and Measure. You MUST, MUST, MUST, and in case I wasn't clear, MUST, track where your customers come from and how much profit you make from them. In doing so, you can evaluate the techniques that make you money and those that don't. And guess what? Stop doing the ones that don't work, and do more of the ones that do work.
5. Learn so you can Earn. Get educated on the wide range of tactics available. There are literally hundreds. Here are a couple of immediate suggestions. Get online right now and order 2 books: "Instant Cashflow" and "Instant Advertising" by Bradley J. Sugars. They will give you a ton of information on different tactics and how to construct ads that work (unlike most that you see out there. PLEASE don't copy ads that you see that you think are good. Learn how to do it right). Consider business coaching. A small business expert can give you specific advice that will help you avoid the common pitfalls of first time entrepreneurs. More information can be found on my website.