State Of The Channel: How To Expand Customer Base

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Expanding the customer base is a crucial element of growing a business, regardless of what sector of IT the business plays in. At XChange Solution Provider 2016's State of the Channel, The Channel Company CEO Bob Faletra asked service providers how they find new business.

"We look at market penetration," said Presidio Vice President Rollen Roberson. "Where are we liked? Where can we get a better customer base? Where can we get better engineering expertise? So we look at certain key companies."

"I think the other thing to remember is there are multiple ways to grow your business," said Travis Weber, chief technology officer at WBM Office Systems. "It's not all just about run-rate business, depending on what stage your organization is in."

Janice Newlon said her company, Novacoast, has invested in marketing events to reach new customers: "Something that's fun, that's going to excite people, that's gonna bring in the decision makers," said the chief operating officer.

Weber, on the other hand, said his company does not operate on a marketing budget.

"We're unilaterally a word-of-mouth business, so we have no marketing and advertising budget, all of our growth is through word of mouth," he said.