The business relationship with your customers has a definite life cycle, and it's important to cultivate it at each part of that cycle. The first step of building a business relationship with a new customer is in prospecting for new customers. Giving away ?free stuff? is often a good way to introduce yourself to prospective clients and customers. Just what stuff you choose and how you hand it out depends a great deal on your type of business and your eventual goal. A business that relies heavily on one-hit sales like a real estate agency can use many of the same strategies as a company that relies on regular return business in attracting new customers, but there are some businesses that benefit more from one method than another.



One of the keys to making your prospecting efforts successful is to suit the promotional items that you choose to your business. It's important to make sure that your name is in front of your customer at the point where he or she is thinking about your product. One of the most clever marketing ploys we've seen is the accounting office that sent out a brown paper grocery satchel in December one year. The sack was printed printed with the business name and telephone number along with the invitation to ?dump your receipts in the bag and let us sort it all out?. Their business increased by nearly a third for that year.

A second key concept in prospecting is to focus your sales efforts on qualified prospects. One classic way to narrow the field is to send out flyers via a direct mail advert campaign and then concentrate on those who respond to the mailing. You can increase responses by up to 54% by including a useful free promotional gift in the mailing. Packaging it in an unusual package will increase the responses even more, because it plays to the curiosity factor.

A third factor in how successful you are with your prospecting efforts is the site of your giveaway. Direct mail is one option, but there are many other places where you can promote your business with free promotional gifts. Promoting a new juice or beverage? Set up a booth to hand out icy cold samples on the beach, each one wrapped in a snug beverage cooler sleeve. Or toss out Frisbees with the name of the beverage imprinted on them in the park to get everyone talking about the new brand.

No matter what service or product you sell, there are promotional gifts and items that will make sense in your marketing. The key to making them work for you is to choose the right ones and use them in creative, attention-getting ways. The professionals at Ideasbynet have combined decades of experience in designing eye-catching and unusual ways to use promotional items. Take the time to consult with a professional for ideas on how to best use your promotional budget to attract new custom.