In this economy, it is difficult to turn clients away. The instinct is to accept any job that comes your way. The reality is that this work will distract you from cultivating your targeted market.

Reengaging past clients usually takes less effort and money than drawing new clients. You have an established working relationship with them, and know some of their expectations on the work expected. The best way to tap into your client base is to track their purchases with your company. Do clients buy products and services during certain times of the year? Are they expanding their business with you or withdrawing? These trends can help you anticipate the client's needs and proactively offer those products/services at a time when they are most receptive.

If you offer a variety of products and/or services, there are some clients who will gravitate towards a limited set of what your business offers. By profiling your clients, you can determine which ones are amenable to cross-selling your other products/services and which clients prefer the tried and true offerings.

Cross-selling your products/services should make sense to the client that is looking to expand the relationship with you. By first identifying the client's needs, you can then market those products and services that complement and augment their business.

When a business relationship shows signs of withdrawal, take steps to identify the cause of the issue and address it. One way to get client feedback is through surveys. These surveys should ask comparable questions first on the client's expectations of what a good business relationship with you would be, with the reality of the existing relationship with you. Those answers that have a higher expectation rating than reality are those areas needing improvement. Those answers where the expectations are equal to or lower than reality are areas that the client thinks you excel. Your survey should have 10-20 questions on expectations, and comparative 10-20 questions on reality. Distribute the questions across these five common categories:

• Tangibles (facilities, equipment, materials)
• Reliability
• Responsiveness
• Courtesy
• Communication

For those clients preferring your current offerings, there are still opportunities to improve business. Providing sales and discounts that encourage a larger volume of business can help both you and your client become more profitable. Finders fees also help clients take on your advertising themselves. If they understand your preferred clientele, they can identify prospective clients to introduce to you. These clients are more likely to strike up business with you if they trust the opinion of the person referring them to you.

The key task for targeting your preferred market is to track your current customer base. Once you know the purchasing patterns of your existing customers, you can decide whether your marketing plan will focus on expanding business among these customers or use their trends for identifying new customers.