They have to profile their customers, identify who they are and where they live or operate, and then seek out others like them and try to engage in conversations with them about their particular wants and needs. In a client roundtable several years ago we had many discussions about marketing. The topic of one of our discussions was the least effective marketing tactics that you have tried. The participants described how they had bought ads on bus benches, on the back of cash register tapes, on matchbooks, etc. Whenever we have tried a tactic, usually in response to a cold-calling sales rep, where we had no specific objective or way to measure results, we have wasted our money.
Effective management demands that scarce resources be used wisely and carefully.
Every time a sale is made business owners and customers exchange values. And that exchange should be mutually beneficial. Both sides should believe that they got a good deal. Effective marketing is ultimately an interpersonal process, one where people skills are crucial. Every day businesses spend huge sums of money on advertising to attract customers to their businesses, and then once that shopper walks in the door they don't have a clue about how to greet them or what to say to them.