Farquharson/Tedesco on Business Development: Don't Give Up on 'Lost Causes'

When discussing a painful past blunder with a customer, spin your mistake as a competitive advantage, emphasizing that no printing company is more careful or conscientious than the one that's recently messed up.

Rule #5: It's Not Just for "Lost Causes." Once you've won back a few customers you never thought you would, don't stop there. Apply these same principles to prospects you just haven't had any luck reeling in. Call them your "almost lost causes." These are the prospects you know you should be working with, but who simply haven't responded favorably to your previous marketing attempts. A different approach may be just the tonic that gets these prospects into your portfolio.