Asking the customers is the most direct way to find out what they want. Carol-Mart Palm, vice-president and general manager of Progressive Impressions International, explains:

Use the "Golden Marketing Rule"(60 percent of your business is generated by 40 percent of your current customers) and perform an online customer satisfaction survey once a year with your current customers. By doing this, you indirectly communicate to your customers that you respect them and want to get their input about your performance and services.

Use the feedback efficiently and effectively. This grows the relationship with your current customers, and can generate more orders. Your customers are also willing to spread the word to other prospects.

Steve McNamara offers another way to get feedback from customers:

Conduct strategic interviews by getting on the phone and asking your customers what they like, what needs to be improved and what problems they have that you might help them solve. It's usually best to hire an independent consultant to conduct the interviews to get the most candid responses.

3. Brainstorm Your Organization's Differences

Knowing your organization's unique selling proposition (USP) always helps in every situation. Samantha Stanley, account executive at 4WARD intellect, gives an example:

Focus specifically on the differences in an organization's business environment and its people. If you know your customers are dog lovers, invite them to a dog's picnic and provide marketing materials with your signage on it, of course.

This is much like companies' sponsoring sporting events, but on a much smaller scale. If you're not sure of your USP or what to do, try formal brainstorming as Steve McNamara advises:

In the agency biz, where I live, fresh new ideas are the lifeblood of the company. We have processes and games that produce results. You can find several of these at AdCracker.com.

4. Start a Blog

Blogging isn't just for personal stuff anymore. It has matured enough that businesses, the media, celebrities and politicians use it as another means to communicate. A reader proposes looking into a blog:

A professional business blog allows the opportunity to talk with potential or existing customers about industry news, updates or generally how your service or product can be used in specific situations to increase revenue/sales and decrease costs/problems. And, if done correctly, blogs can increase the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis. They also help with page rank because they've been submitted to all the blogging directories.

While that is true of blogs, it is not the answer for everyone—just as having an email newsletter or a TV marketing campaign is not the answer for all companies. Do an evaluation to determine whether blogging is good for your business .

5. Dig Into the Database Treasure Chest

The database remains a vital marketing weapon. Maybe it's time to shake it up based on thoughts from Anne Barcelos, marketing director at OpenBOX Technologies:

One of the easiest and cost-effective marketing methods is to start with your existing database and do a series of e-mail campaigns. They don't call a company's database a gold mine for nothing. There could be some leads and existing companies in there that need a boost in order to act and buy from you.

It also cleans up your database so you can eliminate dead leads and contacts taking up space. I did this at my previous company and we got a major, multimillion-dollar order from a lead that hadn't been contacted in a year!

Shake Things Up and Explore Fresh Ideas By Searching the Web or Checking Out books on Marketing and Creativity.

Keep your business and relationships with customers strong by asking for suggestions from MarketingProfs readers. Relationships take work, and our readers provide ideas and solutions so yours will continue to thrive. Let them help you .