At Customers 1st Marketing, we show you how to invest effectively in marketing to improve your business profitability by attracting and retaining more customers.
NEW BUSINESS?
Launch your business with the right market segmentation, targeting strategy and value proposition to succeed on Day #1
LOSING CUSTOMERS?
Learn how to delight your existing customers to increase referrals, add repeat business and improve customer satisfaction
READY TO GROW?
Create a Go-to-Market strategy that only executes and measures the specific tactics that will drive new business — and jettison the rest
Because remember … without customers, your business is a really, really expensive hobby.
In our early years we needed to keep our loyal customers coming back and attract new ones on a very tight budget. Alex had a ton of practical ideas on how to use social media to drive more traffic, as well as simplifying our website – particularly the mobile experience. He was generous with his time, but most importantly, he was truly helpful! He was also a delight to work with.
~Dr. Harry D. Cohen, Owner, The Black Pearl Restaurant
What We Do
At Customers 1st Marketing, we show you how to invest to improve your business by delighting your existing customers and attracting more customers — both of which lead to more sales.
Whether you are a small business owner trying to figure out how to get a few more customers every month, or a larger shop trying to grow the market and launch a new product offering, we can help.
If you have a vague idea of what your customers are like, or have no idea how to improve loyalty, we can help.
If you have no reporting on whether your current market tactics are working, or if your eyes are glazed over from the endless spreadsheets with hundreds of numbers (but no analysis) that keep landing in your inbox, we can help.
If you’ve never had a marketing function before and need a framework, or you are in need of someone to give your entire operation a vision and get them moving in the same direction, we can help.
We can help you for one simple reason: We’ve done all of these jobs before.
And we can’t wait to help you solve your specific sales & marketing challenges to drive more sales for your business.
“Alex’s business sense is incredible. He was able to quickly and accurately get to the core of what we needed to focus on from a branding and marketing standpoint. He had a completely fresh strategy on how to increase Arbez’s prospects and sales without spending a dime on advertising – very refreshing and absolutely effective!”
“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” ~ Michael LeBoeuf
We are always surprised how many successful companies have been driven for years by functional areas that have nothing to do with the customer. Engineering. Manufacturing. Finance. All insanely important to the success of the business, but completely internally-focused in their function.
Regardless of the size of your company, it all comes down to the three things you need to know:
1. Know YOUR CUSTOMERS
“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” ~Peter Drucker, Business Strategist & Author
There are so many potential customers out there. Let’s find the best segments for you to target and grow from there.
Let’s face it: you can’t please everyone. But you don’t need to. At Customers 1st Marketing, we work with you to uncover and target the segments that possess the best market potential for your products or services — by starting with identifying and understanding your best customers. Specifically:
Do you KNOW who they are: Which segments are you intentionally going after, and why?
Do you KNOW their love: Why do your best customers keep coming back?
Do you KNOW their pain: And what can your product/service do to alleviate it?
Do you KNOW their rejection: When you lose a customer or prospect, do you know why?
2. Know YOURSELF
“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” ~Confucius
You have an amazing story. We need to tell people about it.
You picked this job or started your business for a reason, and that reason should drive you every day. At Customers 1st Marketing, we love getting to know you. Why does your business exist? We delve into the core things that drive your success and craft the specific messages that give customers a clear reason to choose you over the competition. Four things to understand in this step:
Do you KNOW your mission: Why do you exist — and why should your customers care?
Do you KNOW your role: How do you define your relationship with your customer?
Do you KNOW your USP: What really makes you, you?
Do you KNOW your message: Can you explain what you do in less than ten words?
3. Know YOUR EXECUTION
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” ~John Wanamaker, visionary retailer
Most companies keep track of way too many metrics or far too few. Let’s focus on what’s driving your business.
We utilize the Unified Funnel Metricsframework to analyze your entire revenue funnel — including marketing, sales, and service/ account management — to see if where you are focusing your efforts is where you are getting the most return. The four key questions are:
Do you KNOW your go-to-market strategy: Have you developed an intentional customer experience plan across all touch points, or are you practicing random acts of marketing?
Do you KNOW your priorities: Does your current spend align with the tactics driving the most ROI?
Do you KNOW your performance: Are you tracking the right metrics?
Do you KNOW your opportunities: Are there changes you could make today that would affect your bottom line immediately?
4. Bring it All Together
Knowing these three things has the power to transform your business immediately, as the answers can revolutionize both your customer experience at every touch point (front end) AND how you organize your operations (back end) — all with the singular goal of delighting your current customers and finding new ones.
I brought in Alex to help with some advertising, but we worked together to rethink everything from a strategy standpoint – our color scheme, our tagline, our story, our website. He had so many ideas to make Realty, Inc. attract more customers – I’m still implementing them all!
In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find them… maybe you can hire… The A-Team.
We are not those guys.
Honestly, we’re not sure you’d want them working on your sales & marketing business, anyway.
Instead, we are a different type of A-Team: we are the team who get really excited when you succeed. We bring wide and diverse experiences to bring you fresh and interesting perspectives on your specific market and your business challenges. Here are a few of the industries where we’ve run marketing initiatives:
Automotive
Financial Services
Credit Unions
Non-Profits
Power Sports
Publishing
Real Estate
Retail
Software
Technology
Trade Associations
Alex Hultgren
CEO/Founder
I started Customers 1st Marketing for one reason: I wanted to help businesses grow.
I was meeting too many smart, dedicated leaders who were so busy working IN the business that they never had time to work ON the business. As such, they were not getting the customers they deserved. After consulting with a few friends on the side, I decided to launch Customers 1st Marketing as a potential resource to anyone who needs to jump start their business. Better marketing + better funnel management = happier customers = more sales = bigger profits.
It was great working with Alex. He brought valuable insight from the customer’s perspective that I had never considered. He very quickly discerned my unique selling proposition and encouraged me to bring that more to the forefront of my web page (it was a few pages in!). Creating an authentic presence online is now more ‘real’ and obtainable to me than it was prior to working with Alex. He has great knowledge and is wonderful to work with. I highly recommend reaching out to him!
~ Sara Becker, Founder & CEO, Clear Simple Business
If you have a vague idea of what your customers are like, or have no idea how to improve loyalty, we can help.
If you’ve never had a marketing function before and need a framework, or you are in need of someone to give your entire operation a vision and get them moving in the same direction, we can help.
You picked this job or started your business for a reason, and that reason should drive you every day. At Customers 1st Marketing, we love getting to know you. Why does your business exist? We delve into the core things that drive your success and craft the specific messages that give customers a clear reason to choose you over the competition. Four things to understand in this step:
We utilize the 
