Many small business people make the mistake of not institutionalizing a systematic program for referrals. They confuse word-of-mouth advertising with a referral system and, hence, overlook the single most effective advertising for a small business. Dont make the same mistake. Develop your networking skills and referral programs today and start receiving an endless stream of new customers.     Tapping Into Your Most Valuable Small Business Asset...Your Current Customers   Not long ago I was speaking with a client in the spa and pool industry who expressed concern that his sales had grown stagnant. He mentioned that he was still actively advertising and working his lead generation process but his new customers had slowed to a trickle.   I asked him, "As a percentage of your marketing efforts, how much is devoted to new customer acquisition and how much is devoted to current customer sales?"   He glanced at me with a look of confusion and said, "What do you mean current customer sales?" He continued, "Once we sell a spa to a customer, thats it. Theyre not going to come back and buy another spa a week later. A lot of our customers come in to buy chemicals and some accessories, but thats it. All of our efforts are focused on finding people who want to buy a new spa or pool."   Theres Gold in Your Customer Base Waiting to be Mined   Unfortunately, my client didnt understand the value of his customer base. There is gold in your customer base waiting to be mined. You see, many retailers focus on the first sale or the "front end" sale and spend a disproportionate amount of time looking for new customers when the real goldmine lies in the "back end" sales, or continuing steam of sales.   Youve probably spent a lot of money acquiring your customers. Not only do you miss out on lost revenue when you ignore them, but you also flush your return on investment from acquiring your customers right down the tube.   If you have convinced a person to do business with you, it means that they have already given you a vote of confidence. If youve provided good service and met (or exceeded) their expectations, its very likely that they would be willing to give you a second vote of confidence or third or fourth. If youre good you may even get their lifetime vote of confidence.