Knowing who your customers are allows you to update your customer base and grow your business. Many businesses attempt to acquire a customer list, but fail to take full advantage of that list once they get it.

One of the easiest ways to find out who your customers are is by offering a business card drawing when they visit your store. What you can do is put a fishbowl on your counter and anyone who comes into your place of business can place their business card in there for a chance to win a prize. According to Patrick Stein, general manager of a Chi Chi's restaurant in Maumee, Ohio, who has been using the fishbowl for several years,  "The fishbowl is instrumental in building our database which allows us to increase our sales through direct mail."

The following process can increase your chance of collecting cards and help you take full advantage of the names you collect.

Have an attractive bowl - Too many companies use a cardboard box or a cheap piece of plastic as a means to collect the cards. Spend a few dollars and find a bowl that will look good on your counter.

Create a professional looking sign - To draw attention to your fishbowl, create a sign which explains what prize the customer will win by having his business card picked from the fishbowl.

Train your employees - Make sure your employees are trained to know how to respond to your customers and remind them to drop their business card in the fishbowl. This will ensure more of your customers participate in the drawing. Be sure to keep it out in the open so the customer can see it and it becomes a constant reminder to your employee to get more participation.

Incorporate in your database - When the fishbowl starts to fill up, take the names and add them to your database. Over a period of time, your data base of names will grow to a substantial number.

Keep in contact - Now that you have a growing list of names, it is critical to keep in contact with everyone in your database. Not only does this allow you to remind your customers about you, but it then makes it more difficult for that customer to go to a competitor. Also, make sure you are consistent in keeping in contact. Try to do it at lease once a quarter. This can be accomplished by a direct mail piece, phone call or a newsletter.

Special offer - When you make contact with people in your database, have some kind of special offer for that customer to visit your store in the near future. Remember, it is less expensive to get a regular customer to buy from you again than it is to find a new customer.

Jeff and Marc Slutsky, co-author of five books including StreetFighting. They are executives of Street Fighter Marketing in Columbus, Ohio which specializes in teaching how to promote, market and increase sales without spending a log of money. Jeff and his brother Marc have a variety of audio and video tapes. For further information contact Jeff or Marc at 800(SLUTSKY) 758-8759, 614/337/2233 fax, 476 Waterbury Court, Columbus, OH 43230.

PMQ