No matter what business you are in, getting people to your business costs money. Whether you pay in cash or kind, you have to pay for people walking in. Owning a shop in prime location has a cost, doesn’t it?

With that said, would you settle for anything less than your cost? No. To make sure your cost is covered, you need higher average sale from anyone who walks in. And, no you can’t force them to pay for garbage. High-pressure sales tactics do not yield either.

You have two options; either you sell more on the spot and increase average sales; OR, you can soft sell now, look at the lifetime customer value and take customer contact details. Then, contact the clients to ensure that they come back to you when they need your services.

While, the first option is what most self-employed businessmen try to do. They fail at it and think it is hard to do business.

Smart businessmen choose the second option. They contact the customer and increase the lifetime customer value. Thus, they cover the costs.

And, Entrepreneurs look beyond the obvious. They not only take the client details, but also verify it, even if that means additional cost to them.

How do they do it? Simple you can make a phone call to verify the phone number provided. Tell clients that their purchase will be delivered to them, free, while you confirm the address. Or you can run a contest where your clients are notified on their mailing address.

There are countless ways to do it.

Governments around the globe have joined hands with big companies to ensure small businesspersons cannot access cheap marketing. Telemarketing is the classic example. Most countries have restricted small businesses from contacting people they have not done business with. While, big companies can cross sell each other’s products to their clients.

If you don’t wake up today and correct your marketing, you may not get a second chance.