We’ve experienced spectacular growth recently, but now we’re having some difficulty increasing our sales. What would be the best way to increase our customer base and stimulate the growth of our business?

It sounds like you are caught in the classic growth dilemma that occurs after the exciting and heady start-up stage. If it seems like you are spinning your wheels in terms of sales growth, it's because you are no longer the same company you were when you started out. Therefore, the marketing plan you once had is no longer suitable.

Before spending money on specific marketing or sales techniques, it might be more appropriate to sit down with a marketing professional and undergo a visioning process that results in a new marketing plan that takes your business to the next level. Usually this plan involves several thrusts.

• Redefining your target markets, with an eye to moving to ancillary markets
• Redefining product and service lines, again with an eye to new markets
• Focusing on what you do well and how it can serve wider markets
• Branding to clearly define who you are and what you do

As an example, satisfied customers provide excellent referrals and opportunities for increased sales. But they may also form the basis of your new self-definition as your business goes to another level. In other words, perhaps your business has changed.