New Survey Reveals Top 7 Sources Of New Clients For IT Business Owners

I recently conducted a survey to my clients asking them what the BEST sources of new clients were in all of 2008. Obviously, some things won't surprise you, such as referrals being #1 on the list; however, some will shake you up and cause you to rethink your marketing strategy for 2009. Here's the list starting with the #1 most effective way down to the least effective (#7):

1. Referrals

2. Direct mail

3. Yellow Pages

4. Partnering with vendors

5. BNI, LeTip and other networking groups

6. Google Adwords

7. Monthly client newsletters

What were the LEAST effective? Radio ads, newspapers and natural search engine optimization. HOWEVER, I do believe the reason that these are so low on the list is due to the fact that not many people use these methods effectively, if at all.

What surprised me the most was Yellow Pages being #3…but when I thought about it some more, it makes perfect sense. Here's why…

The people who are looking in the Yellow Pages for a "computer consultant" are 1) obviously in desperate need of immediate help and 2) don't know who to call. Therefore, they have the makings of an easy sale.

So should you add Yellow Pages ads to your 2009 marketing plan? I say it can't hurt PROVIDED you are already doing a GREAT job at fueling (and rewarding!) your clients for referrals, maximizing the revenue and profitability of the clients you DO have, and exhausting your efforts in finding and developing strong joint venture partnerships (which are nothing more than referrals on steroids). I would also tell you to hold off on Yellow Pages advertising if you are not willing to learn how to write a great direct response ad AND insert unique tracking URLs and phone numbers into the ad so you can truly MEASURE the return on your investment.

If you need more help in this area, I have a few dozen audio CDs on how to created highly-effective Yellow Pages ads. If you want one AND provided you are a VAR, MSP or IT consulting business, contact my office by e-mailing Dawn at dawn@technologymarketingtoolkit.com and include your FULL name, company and mailing address. We'll give them out on a first come-first served basis to IT business owners ONLY…but once they're gone, they're gone!

Posted via email from Robin Robin's Managed IT Services Sales Training