It costs up to five times more to get a new customer than it does to retain a present one. We can expand our services to existing customers, which will impact our growth, but we need new customers for dramatic business growth to happen.

Gordon Bethune, the retired CEO of Continental Airlines, uses the following analogy between fishing and finding new customers, which can be applied to the ag retail business.

Bethune contends that the fish doesn't give a darn about you. The fish has its own agenda, which does not include getting in your boat or feeding you. It's not on his list of things to do. It won't be on his list unless you can entice him with a bit of food to keep him going for awhile. You see it as bait; the fish sees it as food.

You need the fish. So it's necessary to know 1) what kind of fish you're fishing for, and 2) what food that particular fish likes. They don't all like the same thing. If you are smart enough to know what different kinds of food fish like and where they live, you're on your way to a successful fishing experience. But just knowing it doesn't make fishing successful.

Your prospects are, sad to say, like the fish. You have different kinds of prospects — big companies, small companies, individuals. None of them really cares about your business. On their agenda are things like staying afloat financially, getting more customers and being more profitable.

The first step is to decide what kind of prospect you're going after. If you can provide something that fits with their agenda, then they will begin to care and explore the bait. You see it as sales; they see it as help.

Once you've provided “bait” in terms of an enticing offer that indicates how the prospect will benefit from your product or service, the bait becomes more effective and you're likely to get a bite!

Once your hook is baited and cast into the water, it's a waiting game. You patiently await that telltale pull on the line that says, “The fish bit!” Patience is the key here. There's not a lot you can do at this point except be sure that you're in the place where the fish are and that you've used the right bait.

So you've made the offer to your prospects and sent it to the right people. Now what? Wait for the pull on the line!

I recently worked with a client in developing a rather extensive direct mail campaign. We were sure it would make the phone ring and it did, just not immediately. The client was concerned that his phone wasn't ringing the day the offer went out, but after a couple of weeks, the phone began ringing and those prospects were reeled in.

Once the fish bites, before you can reel it in you have to give a good, sturdy jerk on the line to set the hook. That way, the experience doesn't find its way into the archives of “the one that got away” stories! Once the hook is set, the fish cannot get away. The barb on the hook prevents it.

“Setting the hook” with your prospects involves determining their values and providing something that they view as valuable. It's free information or an item that complements your service or product that is the barb on the hook. Once they've responded, this “freebie” encourages them not to get away. You have their attention and have given them something of value.

The gratification of reeling in the fish is unsurpassed. How you handle the fish once it's in your boat is another thing entirely. It's slippery and slimy and tends to want to move away from you.

Reeling in your prospect is the last step in this fishing analogy. Steady attention to the prospect as it's coming in ensures no accidental escapes!

Once your fish is in the boat, well, that's where this analogy ends. The fish's plight is certainly NOT what we want for our prospects. We want them to swim happily in our fish tank for many years to come.

June Van Klaveren, owner of Compelling Communications in St. Louis, MO, helps her clients attract and keep customers. She can be reached through the Web site www.compelcom.com or by calling 800/779-0067.

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© 2007 Penton Media, Inc.