Nine Tips for Two-step Acquisitions

7. Don't limit your testing of two-step acquisition programs to print ads or direct marketing (e.g., catalog, Internet). Broaden the definition to include purposefully selecting prospective customers and creating a targeted industry summit.

An industry summit is an invitation-only, one- or two-day event of topics, relevant planning meetings and communication of industry trends, all ultimately relating to your company's expertise. (Many software developers use this tactic. They call them "User Conferences.") While potentially an expensive endeavor, the ROI is such that converting a customer is an important payback during the course of several years.