Q: We have breakthrough products in the area of food sanitation, which are used widely in Europe but not in the U.S. Since this is a company with slightly under $1 million in sales and a three-person staff, do you have any suggestions for how to market these products? What general marketing tools should I use to reach customers in the 50 states? Is there any specific software? What role should trade shows, fax blasts, E-mail solicitations, PR, and advertising play? And how do I obtain a target database? --D.F.

A: At your size and staffing level, this is a job for "guerrilla marketing." The first lesson in this battle is one that George Walther popularized in his book Upside-Down Marketing: Focus first on past customers -- those who once did business with you but for some reason stopped. Reactivating old accounts is the easiest way to increase revenue. Second, expand business with existing accounts, and only then go after new customers. Most entrepreneurs mistakenly reverse that order, Walther says.

For increasing your base of new customers, trade shows -- dollar for dollar -- probably have the lowest cost of all sources of sales leads, says Orvel Ray Wilson, president of Boulder (Colo.)-based Guerrilla Group, which has published a series of 17 books on guerrilla marketing tactics. (To wit, check out Guerrilla Trade Show Selling, John Wiley & Sons.) Direct mail and telemarketing are also good strategies.

But before you contact list brokers, Wilson recommends that you carefully analyze your current customers in terms of size, SIC code, and geography. Then search for lists that match that composite profile. (Of course, Wilson has a book to help select a list broker and lists, to determine how to test them, and how much to pay: Guerrilla Teleselling, also from Wiley. For more tips, see Wilson's Web site at www.guerrillagroup.com.)

If you're starting cold with these new products and haven't yet built a customer profile, look first in your own backyard. Make personal sales calls on local prospects and let them help you define your target clientele: If the three-star chef isn't interested, he may know that the deli owner down the street is.

Finally, tactics. Steer clear of spam E-mail. Mass E-mailing is a great way to stay in touch with existing customers, Wilson says, but lousy for winning new ones. Ditto for mass faxing. (In fact, it's not only bad for business but also illegal, ever since 1996 when the Federal Communications Commission established a $500 fine for sending unsolicited faxes without having a "demonstrable existing business relationship.")

As for public relations: Forget the outside agency and do it yourself. If you have truly breakthrough products, it's a good bet that a trade publication in your industry would consider a well-written article. Advertising, Wilson warns, is the most expensive and least-understood medium, and should not be a priority for your stage of business.

And yes, once the orders start rolling in, you'll need a good contact management program to track all of your customers. If you haven't mastered Microsoft's Access database and calendar applications in Office 97, try ACT!, an easier-to-use package from Symantec, or GoldMine 4.0 from GoldMine Software.

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