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Canadian News

Infographic: Sources of New Business for Canadian Distributors

ASI Research has found that firms gain most of their new clients via referrals and their website, while their top business challenge this year is increasing the size of their customer base.

Referrals remain the top source for new business.

That’s according to ASI Research, which found that among both Canadian and U.S. distributors, word-of-mouth marketing and references is their most lucrative method of gaining new sales, cited by 87% of Canadians and 84% of Americans. Meanwhile, 30% of Canadians say they get new business from their website, compared to only 23% of U.S. distributors.

While average gross profit margin was about the same in both countries, more Canadians are concerned about staying profitable under pressure to cut prices – though they were able to retain 81% of clients in both 2021 and 2022.

Allen Stern, marketing solutions specialist at Proforma Allen Stern Marketing (asi/491730) in Thornhill, ON, says his company retained 90% of clients between 2021 and 2022, averages a 35% gross profit margin and gets most of its new business from referrals.

“A top business concern for us is logistics, mainly inventory levels and on-time delivery,” he says. “We’re also concerned with increasing our customer base and customer spend, as well as with clients shopping around.”

Click here for a PDF of the below infographic.

infographic