There may come a time when business ideas just stop flowing. For most small business owners, this can be devastating because much of the income earned through the business is based on creative and innovative ideas. But before this happens, plan ahead by connecting with subscribers to generate a list of new ideas for products and services.

I Need Your Vote!

When torn between two product/service ideas, send a quick text message asking for subscribers’ opinions. A quick poll asking subscribers to choose between one product idea and another may help you make up your mind. Use polls to determine names for products or services, release dates, packaging concepts, and other details that you or your business partners cannot decide on. Going to the customer is not a new concept; in fact, many businesses use this as a way to promote new products and services before a release date.

What Do You Think?

Another way to generate ideas is to ask subscribers how they feel about current products and services. Send a customer satisfaction survey asking customers about recent purchases. Find out overall satisfaction, what aspects customers liked the best, which aspects customers would change, and any other information you want to know. Bulk text messages help you reach many people at once which can make the process of gathering this type of information much easier.

Instead of launching a brand new product or service, make modifications after learning more about the needs and wants of your customers and re-launch the product. Send a follow up survey asking for customer reactions to the changes you’ve made.

Try This, It’s Free!

Launch a mobile campaign to offer free samples or information about goods and services. Include a coupon code or instructions for how people can get their free sample. Include a survey for people to complete after they tried the product. This is a great way to test potential markets without having to spend a lot of money in focus groups or trial sales.

As you can see, there are many ways to generate new ideas to keep your business profitable by getting in touch with existing customers. By providing what customers want and need, you can create a trusting relationship that will hopefully last a long time.