Gold Mining

The number one resource for new accounts is . . . drum roll please . . . folks you've done business with before. I might be different than you, but I'm always on the hunt for new business. Where can I go? What new avenue can I pursue? About every 60 days, I wake up in the middle of the afternoon and WHAM! It hits me. Again! Who bought something about this time last year and the year before and the year before that. It seems so obvious, and yet, I know from talking to new and seasoned veterans in the advertising specialty game, that most don't think to go back and look at this information.

Sure, maybe that small retailer or restaurant only bought $79 worth of pens last year, but a quick call to see how the supply is, and how their business is doing could turn into some real nice business. But there's more to this gold mining business.

What about the customers that were buying from Good Ol' Jim. You know the guy who used to work for your company. Whether this guy or gal flamed out after 10 months or 10 years, they left some orphans. And guess what. It is the rare company that is effectively mining that list.

Most mining operations have levels of difficulty. Some ore you can almost scoop off the ground. Some requires panning in a cold stream for hours to make $100. In addition to the two pretty easy suggestions above, it is also possible to make sure even the prospect lists of ex-salespeople is available to work. Maybe some of those prospects were right on the verge of switching to your company, and you can seal the deal. There are more gold mining techniques, but they will have to wait for another day.