31) Listen to customers. The number one rule of marketing is simply to listen to your customers. ("How can we serve you better?") Practice the art of drawing out customer reactions--what they like and dislike, and what they'd also like to have in addition to what you offer. Train your employees to do likewise. Besides simply talking to customers, other ways to solicit customer feedback are through focus groups, suggestions boxes, and inviting customers on your labels to send in comments and suggestions.

32) Educate the customer. The more people know about your product and what went into growing it and how to use it, the more they are willing to pay a premium price. Ways to inform customers about your products or services include point-of-purchase educational brochures and flyers, on-farm demonstrations and workshops, free recipe sheets, product information on labels, educational articles or columns in the media, and a regularly published newsletter.

33) Point of purchase (POP) materials. Studies show that most purchases are unplanned; few people go into a store and stick to their shopping list 100%. Develop a roster of posters, shelf-talkers, tent cards, recipe pads and brochures to act as on-the-spot salespeople when customers walk into your store. In this way, customers are encouraged to try a new product. By supplying customers with recipes and storage tips, point-of-purchase displays also encourage customers to purchase larger volumes. The products you sell through retail stores or wholesalers will also move a lot faster if you can supply them with lots of POP material.

34) Pricing for quality. Offer a unique, high-quality product that customers can't get elsewhere. Stress quality, freshness and uniqueness rather than "cheap food." Here's some more high-end pricing tips: 1) Package expensive specialty items in smaller units. Sell berries, for example, in pint rather than quart sizes-this makes it easier for the customer to buy and try out a new or expensive product. 2) Price competitively for common items, but slightly above the market for unusual or hard-to-find items where competition is less intense. 3) Give samples in order to show the customer your quality. 4) If and when you do make upward price adjustments, make them a little as needed rather than all at once.

35) The personal sales call is the oldest and most effective form of marketing communication. As the farmer who grew and intimately knows the product you're selling, you can sell twice as much on any given day as a hired salesman! Selling skills can be gained by common sense preparation. Go to your library or bookstore and get a good book on salesmanship! Contrary to the salesman's image as a talker, it's even more important to listen ("If you want to sell, then ask, don't tell"). Talk, ask questions and listen until you've learned about the customer's needs and how you can satisfy them.

36) Logo. Your logo is one of the best promotion and advertising expenditures you will make. Use your logo on road signs, packaging, letterhead, containers, business cards, brochures and direct-mail pieces, as well as on all advertising that you do. In seeking graphic design help, look for barter arrangements: one flower grower supplied an advertising agency with fuchsias in exchange for half her bill. Keep your logo simple, clean and crisp. Logos with lots of details can distract a customer and cause her to miss the real message or theme you are trying to convey.

37) A brand name is one key to getting high prices for quality food products. In a market of mass-produced, no-name products, stamping your personal identity on your product builds trust and confidence. You don't have to be Sunkist or Chiquita. Even the smallest farmer can utilize branding to maximize his advantage over competitors. Remember, however, that "the quality goes in before the name goes on." Consistent quality is crucial to branding your products. Bad products will ruin your brand name.

38) Free publicity. Before spending money on advertising, utilize all the free publicity and promotion available. Read books like Bigtime Lettuce by Eric Gibson (available in early 1996 from New World Publishing), Advertising Without Money by Salli Raspberry, and StreetSmart Marketing by Jeff Slutsky for low-cost promotion techniques. A story written about your product or farm operation in the local newspaper, for example, can be worth hundreds or even thousands of advertising dollars. An industry rule-of-thumb is that editorial coverage is seven times as valuable as paid coverage!

39) Word of mouth. The best and most economical way to attract and keep customers is through personal recommendation, or "word-of-mouth." Word-of-mouth advertising is not free, however. It is earned each time you provide your customers with outstanding service and a quality product. Word-of-mouth really takes off when you do something extraordinary, like custom growing for restaurant chefs or providing an irresistible fresh berry-topping sundae for roadside market customers. Other ways to help fuel word-of-mouth include asking satisfied customers to recommend your services or products to their friends; setting up a referral program to encourage customers to tell others about your farm or market; printing your farm logo, along with a map, on your paper bags, cartons and other containers; handing out brochures for committed customers to pass out to friends; and collecting customer testimonials to quote in your advertising copy.

40) Contributing to your community earns you the kind of reputation that money can't buy. Community involvement means joining the chamber of commerce or the Farm Bureau, or donating fresh vegetables or holding a benefit sale for a charitable organization. Contribute bags or boxes of your product, and include a sales brochure-recipients will show up later at your farm. Sponsor a local high school club that is community-minded. Club projects might include reading and running errands for residents of a nursing home, or rounding up gifts or food for the underprivileged during holiday seasons.

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