Home topics small-business-resources growing Growing Managing Growing Customer attraction tops business development strategies: MYOB Lorna Brett January 17, 2012 Customers will be the focus of many SMB business development strategies this year, as businesses work toward attracting their attention and creating loyalty to survive the two-speed economy. According to MYOB ’s latest Business Monitor research, 49 percent of small to medium business owners are aiming for client/revenue growth in 2012, an increase of three percentage points on the prior year, while 32 percent hope to simply maintain their current levels. Survey respondents pointed to the following top 10 business elements as those they’ll be increasing activity around this year: 1. Focus on customer retention strategies – 39 percent of respondents. 2. Focus on customer acquisition strategies – 34 percent. 3. Business activity in new markets – 33 percent. 4. Number or variety of products or services offered by the business – 29 percent. 5. Amount paid to staff – 24 percent. 6. Sale of products/services online – 24 percent. 7. Sales of products/services offline – 23 percent. 8. Number of sales promotions conducted over the year – 22 percent. 9. Number of part time or casual staff in the business – 21 percent. 10. Dollar value of spending on marketing and advertising the business online – 21 percent. MYOB CEO Tim Reed said he’s not surprised customers will remain the main focus for local SMBs this year. “What I found especially interesting was the insight we received into the importance