Looking for leadership strategies to make more money? Looking to stay on top of your game during this recession? Looking for a strategic edge, a strategic plan to help you improve profitability?

Here’s an exercise that I will suggest could add immediate business to a business owner’s bottom line. A business acquaintance related a very hard hitting experience she had just the other day. It had to do with a circle of business friends she hangs with. In a conversation over dinner, she discovered that they were working with other vendors that provide exactly the services her company offers. She was amazed — no — actually a bit angry that they were using other vendors to fulfill their needs instead of her company.

That’s when she realized they didn’t really know what her company, that had been around for 12 years, did!

The question I would ask you is this: Do your customers know what your company does?

The second question I would ask you is this: Do you have a consistent message on all of your marketing material that explains what how your company solves problems?

While in the above example, my friends’ acquaintances weren’t customers, they were acquaintances. The business opportunity that my friend missed wasn’t just in losing their business, but in their inability to refer her to their business acquaintances.

The lesson? Don’t get tired of what you do. Don’t get comfortable and think you’ve been around long enough that people know who you are and what your company does. Never miss an opportunity to bring up examples of how you helped a customer, how you solved a problem, how you made someone’s company more successful.

Here are 5 Steps that will assure you that you are FIRST on someone’s list when they are needing what your company offers:

Step 1: Refresh your benefit statements. Have you become a walking ‘features’ name tag? When you have the opportunity to talk about your business, are you explaining what you do or are you telling people how you solve their problems?

Step 2: Call and talk to all of your existing customers. Ask them straight out if they know what your company does. They may be able to explain the part that impacted them, but do they know all that you provide? If they don’t, and they love you, you are missing out on some great referrals.

Step 3: Have you made sales someone else’s problem? When a company has fewer than 20 employees, it’s the CEO who will be most effective selling their product or service. That’s because it’ the CEO’s passion, vision and knowledge that has brought the company to where it is today. Before a CEO can let loose of sales, there has to be a sales process incorporated into the culture of the business. Let go too soon of this critical process and sales will drop.

Step 4: Be more visible. To everyone. A CEO who stays in the background of their business, especially when times are tough, is adding to the problem. Yes, you have hired very good and talented people to run your business. However, they need to see you, talk to you, gain trust from you. Your customers need the same.

Step 5: Ask more questions. Of everyone. Your employees, your customers, your vendors. Don’t assume people know what’s going on in the company. Don’t assume your customers are okay. Practice an inquiry approach to everything you do. Instead of telling, ask. Instead of talking, listen. Instead of assuming, dig deeper.

The experience of my business acquaintance made its impact on me also. I’ve started calling clients. Customer intelligence gathering is top on my list of things to do. My questions include: What are your current challenges? What other issues are you grappling with? Are you aware of my different product and service offerings? If you were looking for help, what would you be asking for? Since we last worked together, what has worked, what hasn’t worked? How can I help?

In a time when every business is working hard to survive, don’t ignore or overlook the things that made you successful from day one — a laser-like focus on connecting with your customers to help them solve their problems.