By Mark Scott, executive director of Market MontGOmery Chamber & Tourism • How many new customers does a business need each year? Is one enough? Does it need 1 percent growth?
Let’s approach that question from another angle. Have you and a friend ever seen the same thing on the news and had different opinions? Maybe you were in a meeting and the minutes don’t reflect what you would have noted as important.
That’s the success of Facebook. Our thoughts and those of others can vary greatly based on political opinions, upbringing, values, how we feel that day and much more … but when you post on Facebook, people with like minds find value in what you post. They share what you posted and that reaches even more like-minded people and, before you know it, the post has reached thousands of like-minded people. We do that in everyday life, but Facebook is a vehicle that spreads thoughts to similar-thinking people more quickly than ever before.
What does that have to do with how many new customers you need? I like to say, if we got just a tenth of 1 percent of the people coming to the lakes and forest in Montgomery County or driving by on I-73/74, we would increase visitor spending by millions.
What if 15 off-road vehicles in the forest visited the Speckled Paw? That number is not very high, but each vehicle usually has two people in it, so that is potentially 30 customers. If they visit 15 weekends a year, that makes 450 potential buys – not counting other times they might visit. Maybe 10 of them post it on Facebook and reach 200 of their friends and 10 of those 200 share it and reach 200 more apiece.
You get the picture. Never underestimate the importance of even one new customer! The answer is one!