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As a business owner you have all kinds of ideas about what products and services you want to offer to your clients. If you*re like me, you probably think about it a lot.

The question is, do your clients really want what you are offering? Are you meeting their needs and helping them with the issues that are most important to them?

Imagine being able to see inside of your client's brains and know what they are thinking. It is actually possible and you don*t have to be a mind reader. The way to find out is to ask!

Yes, the ultimate marketing source is each of your clients. They know better than anyone what they want and need. It seems obvious yet many business owners don*t ask their clients specific questions about how they can best serve them. To get you started, here are some examples.

You can ask your clients questions about:

- Existing products and services

- New products and services

- The biggest obstacles they face

- What might be missing from your offer

So now you know what you want to find out, but how do you do it? There are many ways to ask your clients are thinking. Here are some ideas to get you started.

You can:

* Call them yourself

* Hire a third party to call them

* Send them a survey in the mail

* Create an on-line survey (Survey Monkey offers a free option
http://www.surveymonkey.com and has a helpful demo)

Since you are asking your clients to spend a few minutes of their time, it is normal to give them a reason to answer your questions. What could you give to your clients as a way to say thank you for their willingness to share their insights with you?

What about:

> Offer to include everyone who answers into a lottery to win a valuable prize

> Give valuable information to everyone who completes the survey

> Offer a discount on future purchases to people who respond

Ready to stop guessing what your clients need and find out directly from them what they really want? First, think about the best questions you can ask. Questions that will reveal information that you will be able to use to create products and services that will really help your clients.

Next, take a look at your client base and decide on the best method to use to ask them your questions. Then offer your clients something in exchange for their cooperation. Once you have the results of your survey, analyze it and create something your clients are really waiting for!

(c) 2006