It's time to beat the old bad customer service drum again. I know, I'm sick of beating the drum, too, but as long as bad customer service runs rampant through so many businesses I feel it is my entrepreneurial duty to bring it to your attention. So grab a pew and prepare to listen to the sermon I've preached before: bad customer service is the bane of business. If the Almighty smote down every business that dispenses bad customer service, the world would be a much friendlier, albeit much sparser place. Consider a world without malls and fast food joints… would it really be so bad?
What puzzles me most is if bad customer service is such a death knell for business, why do so many businesses allow it to go on? Don't they read my column, for Pete's sake? I think the problem is that most bad customer service is doled out (or at least condoned) by business owners and managers who have ceased caring what their customers think. When you stop caring what your customers think it's time to close the doors. Go find a day job. You'll make someone a wonderfully disgruntled employee.
My latest parable of lousy customer service was actually experienced by my better half while attempting to buy my daughter a pair of basketball shoes. I won't mention the name of the sporting goods chain store in which the bad customer service took place, but I will tell you that its name is similar to the sound a frog with hiccups might make.
As my wife waited for someone to assit, the four or five teenagers who had been charged with manning the store stood in a clump at the cash register giggling and flirting with one another as if they were at the prom instead of at work.
When my wife pointed out this fact, one of the employees, a cheeky lass of 16 or so, put her hands on her hips and said, "How rude!" The males in the group didn't react at all. They were too busy arguing over who could take a break so they could chase other cheeky lasses about the mall.
Needless to say my lovely bride, who has the ability to instill fear into the hearts of even the most worthless employees, left the gaggle of giggling teen idiots standing with their mouths open in disbelief. How dare a customer tell them to do that with a pair of basketball shoes?
As much as I bemoan bad customer service I celebrate good customer service. It should be applauded and the purveyor of said good customer service should be rewarded for actually delivering satisfaction to the customer, above and beyond the call of duty.
So let me tell you the story of my new hero, Ken. I won't tell you the name of the store in which Ken works, but let's just say they started out selling radios in a shack somewhere long, long ago.
I first met Ken when I went into the store to buy a mixing board for my business that records audio products for the Web. In a nutshell, you plug microphones into the mixing board then connect it to the computer and you can record audio directly to digital format. Totally beside the point of this article, but I didn't want you thinking that I was purchasing non-manly cooking utensils.
When I got the mixer installed it didn't work. So I boxed it up and headed back to the store to return it. When I told Ken my problem he didn't just grunt and give me my money back as so many bad customer service reps would do. Instead he asked, "Do you mind if I try it?"
"Knock yourself out," was my reply, confident that if I couldn't get it to work, neither could Ken. Ken took the mixer out of the box and went about hooking it up to one of the computers on display. He started pulling power cords and cables off the display racks and ripping them open and plugging them in. He tore open a new microphone and an adapter and kept going until he had the mixer hooked up and working. Yes, I said working. It turns out the mixer was fine. I just had the wrong power adapter.
Ken could have just given me my money back and been done with me. Instead he spent 15 minutes and opened a number of other packages that I was under no obligation to buy just to help me get the thing working.
I was so impressed that I not only kept the mixing board, I also bought another $50 worth of products. And the next time I need anything electronic guess where I will buy it? Even if it costs twice as much, I'll buy it from Ken.
Now here's the moral of the story: if you are a business owner who has a gaggle of teenagers in charge of customer service at your store you would be better off replacing them with wild monkeys.
At least monkeys can be trained.
Is Bad Customer Service Killing Your Business?
Customer Service for Business Phone Systems
Working in a law office often means long hours and late nights, especially doing probate work. Getting in before seven A.M. and staying until well past business hours, I assumed that I would always be available for whoever might call me. Recently, my office switched our business phone system and I started to notice a drop in the number of calls I was receiving each day. It was such a change, in fact, that I was able to get my work finished much earlier than usual. I never considered that it could be our phone system and simply chalked it up to good luck. Little did I know that I was missing several calls from important clients who had almost all left voicemail messages that I hadn't been receiving. A couple of weeks after he new phone system was installed, I ran into one of these clients while in court, who kidded me about being too busy to get back to her. It was then that I realized there must have been a problem.
The next day when I returned to the office, I asked my associates if they had experienced similar problems. They hadn't, but they suggested I call the company who sold us our phones and equipment to see what could be done. I called, and within twenty minutes, the problem was fixed. Apparently, my voicemail was being sent to another place. The service representative explained in detail how to do a simple diagnostic to see if my messages were going where they were supposed to. When I found that they weren't, he explained how to change the settings to solve the problem. While I now have a lot of calls to catch up on, I am grateful that the company we went with for our new phone system provides such competent customer service. I think that in the phone business, as in any business, it is paramount to success.
Customer Loyalty – The Key to Business Success
Talk to many business people about how they approach customer service and the majority of them will say that they are aiming to have ‘satisfied’ customers. No! What we all should be seeking is to have loyal customers.
Research has shown that 65% of customers say they are loyal. You may be happy with this but you shouldn’t! Satisfied customers are in a state of nothing – they are neither issatisfied or happy; they are in between. They will tolerate you while you are of use to them but if a better deal comes along, they’re off.
On the other hand, loyal customers are your friends. They will be with you through thick and thin; they will be the first to try out you new product; they willing give you honest feedback; they will regularly refer business to you. This is what you want! But how can you turn a satisfied customer into a loyal one?
Let Them Decide How to Do Business With You
Today customers are a lot more sophisticated in how they want to do business. If your product or service lends itself to be offered via a number of different means, then give your customer the option.
Can you deliver face-to-face? What about telephone services? Could you make use of SMS texts for quick notes and reminders? Do you have a web site through which customers can contact you or even make orders on-line? If you provide a variety of delivery channels which are available to suit the customer’s needs then they are more likely to stay with you.
Build a Relationship
Loyalty can only be achieved if you have a true relationship with your customer. Aim to build rapport. Understand who are dealing with you and understand what they are looking for. Keep in regular contact with them; you don’t necessarily have to be selling something. Always use their names, especially their first name if you can.
All of this will help in building a long term relationship. Once you have this, they are less likely to walk away.
Generate Staff Loyalty
How can you cultivate a loyal customer if your staff are not loyal to the business? You must have staff who care for the job and will do anything to protect and move the business forward. Customers will be more loyal if they see familiar faces. A business with a high staff turnover will find it difficult to build a relationship with their customers.
Treat your staff well. Reward their successes and recognise their achievements. Hold regular training sessions so they feel they are learning and developing. An established training programme will also make sure that their product knowledge is up to date.
Seek Out Complaints
This sound strange but the average customer has to be encouraged to complain! Many will keep quiet about poor service but if they can find someone else to do their business with, they will. Set up a clear complaints procedure so customers can complain if they wish. Provide staff with the tools to effectively deal with customer problems. Follow up all complaints to ensure that they have been resolved.
Take an Interest
Show your customers that you are interested in their views. Run regular surveys to find out what they think of your service, to find out what you can do differently. You can either carry out a survey over the telephone, or go as far as doing a mailing to all your customers.
Taking the trouble to contact your customers will reinforce the message that you want their custom. But don’t forget – take action on what you find out!
Be a ‘Can Do’ Business
Customers like nothing better than a business which delivers on even the most difficult of requests. ‘Can Do’ businesses will always have loyal customers. Train your staff to never use words like, “Sorry but …”, “It’s not my fault”, “Its company policy”.
Be a business where solutions are always looked for and problems seen as challenges.
Look After The ‘Golden’ Customers
The old 80/20 is likely to apply to your business – 80% of your sales or profits are likely to come from just 20% of your customers. Work out who your top 20% are and love them to death! Why not concentrate on turning the remaining 80% into loyal customers? Well, the 20% have already shown that they trust and respect you. A little more effort with these customers will reap more business than concentrating on the ‘maybe’s’. By all means, run a programme to convert the ‘maybe’s’ but put more effort into the converted.
So, there you have it. Some ideas and tips on how to build and keep loyal customers. Take a critical look at your business and put a loyalty building programme in place, which will boost sales and profits.
Customer Satisfaction is the Business Mantra at Silicon BizTech
Silicon BizTech, a global software development and information technology outsourcing company, is dedicated to cater topclass services and is commited towards meeting the objective of its clients. Hard work is the way of life at Silicon and satisfaction of customers the business mantra which inspires us to go to any length for the satisfaction of our clients.
Time undoubtedly is money in today's world. The saying "time is money " is most applicable in today's times. No where is this trend more reflected than in business circles. Every penny saved is a penny earned. And if this is what is the trend then obviously every penny must be saved. The out sourcing companies does that in the true sense by providing quality services at most competitive prices. However, they also bring with themselves lot of concerns for most of them are capable of doing only one job and the clients requirements might be many.
For example if you develop a site it is obvious that you would need to design it as well as prepare content for it. Just imagine the hassles you would be going through if you give the job to three vendors who would be doing three different jobs. Not a very pleasent scenario, for the cofusion would be immense. On the other hand if you get a company which can do all the three jobs then imagine how much pressure would be relieved and how smoothly the work would be done. This is where Silicon BizTech scores over others, for we do not provide any service but a package which takes care of everything.
For example merely preparing a site is not the end of the job. The challenge is also to update it. There would always be times when new services would be added or the existing services be expanded. All the changes need to be incorporated in the site. Same is the case with the design, which also gets old and outdated.
Such things have to be taken care of and when we say that we provide a complete package what we mean is that all such big, small issues would be taken care off. In addition to website design, content management, web promotion, and web development we also offer such services like e-commerce, software development, search engine optimization, web hosting and many more. So whether you are looking to take your business to web or striving to improve your existing business Silicon BizTech provides the services to make it successful.
Needless to say that once you become part of the BizTech family all your concerns would be ours and you can take a sigh of relief. When we say that we do not provide a service but a complete package we mean every letter of the word. It can thus be understood that a job done by us would not be one job but a collection of many jobs and not to mention the quality which is the hall mark of any project done by us.
Customer Service in Business
When you begin any business, one of the most important things to remember is that good customer service is a necessity. The food concession business is no different. If anything, it’s more important to be friendly and have a good relationship with your customers because it’s even more difficult to build up a loyal clientele as a mobile food vending business. There are three major reasons to make sure that your employees know how important customer service is. The first is the very simple fact that if customers are treated kindly, they will return. The second is the awesome fact that if they like the customer service, they will recommend your business to others. The final reason to be great in the customer service department is that since good customer service has almost become a thing of the past and your business will stand out for it.
Customer service is a very important aspect of any business and one of the effects of great customer service is that you will have repeat customers. Repeat customers are a commodity that should be valued and catered to. Doing this will make it very easy for the people to want to come back to your establishment. The opposite side is that while many customers are very loyal when a business pleases them, they are also very reluctant to come back if they have a bad experience. You will likely never see the customer again if they have such a bad experience. Even if you make a mistake with an order, if you are quick to cater to the customer, you will see them again, most likely.
Another effect of great customer service is that satisfied customers make for great advertisement. They will be loyal, but they will also tell their friends about your business. This is great because a truly happy customer will find ways to make sure their friends try you too. Once the friends have tried your food and service, the cycle continues. They will return and tell their friends as well. The down side of this is that if your customer service is poor, that will travel even more quickly than a good report. This, in turn, will effect how other potential customers will view your business. Once you have this bad reputation, it’s an uphill battle to get people to stop and try your food.
One final reason to have excellent customer service is because there is hardly any good customer service out there anymore and your business will stand out. If you can do anything to make your business stand out, do it. This is a way to stand out in a good way. For years now, good customer service has been sadly reducing in all kinds of industries. A chance to be a leading customer service business in any industry is a great one and you should take it.
There will always be that one customer that you can’t please. That one person, that no matter what you do, you can’t do the right thing by them. Move on from this customer. Take care of your loyal return customers and try to give them as memorable of an experience that you can. With good customer service and good food, there is no limit to what type of business you can build or the amount of money that you can make.
How to Build a Customer Focused Business
You can have the best products, the plushest offices, the best location, but unless you are a ‘customer focused’ business, all of this counts for nothing, you will never really hit the heights you deserve.
So what can you do to build a business which focuses outwardly on the customer, and not inwardly on the business?
Build Passion and Commitment
The first building block is passion and commitment. This is the very foundation stone of a customer focused business. Without passion and commitment the structure you will build above will be weak and prone to collapse at the first sign of stress.
The passion and commitment has to come from you and your staff. All of you have to totally believe in the concept of the customer being the centre of everything you do. From the moment you step into work everyone has to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.
As the key person in the business what can you do to build passion and commitment? Lead from the front and set an example. Keep the concept at the top of the agenda and demonstrate it in everything you do. Keep talking about it. Celebrate all the great examples of putting the customer totally in focus.
Build Processes Around Your Customer Not The Business
All great businesses have clearly laid down processes on how to get things done. Whether you have a formal Process Manual or a Quick Reference Guide, which sets out your processes, a clear procedure provides confidence and clarity for both your staff and the customer.
But don’t just build your processes around making things easier for you, build them to make things easier for the customer. Look at every step in the process and ask yourself, “Can we do something to make it even easier for the customer to do business with us?”Are there steps which can be refined or even eliminated all together? Be inquisitive, bold and challenging!
Build a Relationship
Building a relationship with your customer is at the very heart of a customer focused model. Build a strong, firm relationship and you will have a customer for life. The basis of relationship building is A.B.C. – Always Be Communicating. Here are some ideas on building an enduring and profitable relationship through ABC:
• Make a point to periodically call your customers. Set up a diary system to provide you with a regular reminder or prompt. Call them even if you have nothing sell! A strange concept perhaps but you never know what will come out of the conversation
• Issue quarterly newsletters telling them about your latest products, what you have planned for the future, a customer profile, news about new employees. Find anything which would be of interest and at the same time binding both of you closer together
• Make it a point during any conversation to find out something about the business you didn’t know before. File away any interesting fact and think how you can use it in the future. Imagine how powerful it would be when you ask how the idea they mentioned in your last conversation was going!
• Do memorable things. Send birthday or anniversary cards to your key contact, a simple thank you note for doing business with us, send articles or newspaper cuttings, which you think will be of interest to them
Build a Culture of ‘Wanting To Know’
If you are to build a reputation for being customer focused you should be making an effort to find out on a regular basis what they want from you. This can be achieved by either an informal phone call or a more formal survey via mail or e-mail. Find out what they like about your business, what they don’t like and what changes they would like to see.
Having gathered together all the information, suggestions and ideas, set out an action plan to follow up. Once you have acted upon the workable suggestions, get in touch with the customers again and tell them what you have done in response to their comments. This will demonstrate that you have taken their ideas seriously and really care about what they think. Powerful stuff!
Being customer focused can be very rewarding and help in building a great business. Which of these steps are you going to put into practice today? Remember this – let the customer be your focus and you will become their focus.
Creating Customer Loyalty For Your Business
Creating Customer Loyalty for Your Business
Strategize and Plan For Loyalty!
These four factors will greatly affect your ability to build a loyal customer base:
1. Products that are highly differentiated from those of the competition.
2. Higher-end products where price is not the primary buying factor.
3. Products with a high service component.
4. Multiple products for the same customer.
1. Market To Your Own Customers
Giving a lot of thought to your marketing programs aimed at current customers is one aspect of building customer loyalty.
When you buy a new car, many dealers will within minutes try to sell you an extended warranty, an alarm system, and maybe rust proofing. It's often a very easy sale and costs the dealer almost nothing to make. Are there additional products or services you can sell your customers? Three years ago my house was painted, and it's now due for another coat. Why hasn't the painter called or at least sent a card? It would be a lot less expensive than getting new customers through his newspaper ad, and since I was happy with his work I won't get four competing bids this time. Keep all the information you can on your customers and don't hesitate to ask for the next sale.
2. Use Complaints To Build Business!
When customers aren't happy with your business they usually won't complain to you - instead, they'll probably complain to just about everyone else they know - and take their business to your competition next time. That's why an increasing number of businesses are making follow-up calls or mailing satisfaction questionnaires after the sale is made. They find that if they promptly follow up and resolve a customer's complaint, the customer might be even more likely to do business than the average customer who didn't have a complaint.
3. Reach Out To Your Customers!
Contact with current customers is a good way to build their loyalty.
The more the customer sees someone from your firm, the more likely you'll get the next order. Send Holiday cards, see them at trade shows, stop by to make sure everything's okay. Send a simple email newsletter to your customers-tell them about the great things that are happening at your firm and include some useful information for them. Send them copies of any media clippings about your firm. Invite them to free seminars or exclusive events. The more they know about you, the more they see you as someone out to help them, the more they know about your accomplishments-the more loyal a customer they will be.
Recommended Tool: Loyal Email
The Loyal Email solution enables businesses of any size to communicate directly with customers via permission-based email campaigns which helps companies save time and money while increasing sales and customer loyalty.
This solution is geared towards companies whom want to harness the effectiveness and cost efficiencies of email communications but do not want the hassles of managing their own program in-house. Loyal Email is a 100% managed service which doesn't require any additional investment in hardware, software or personnel. They take care of everything so you don’t have to. Get your own custom designed email marketing and customer loyalty program at http://www.loyalemail.com
Wishing you great business success,
Chris Swemba
Kinetica
Home Business And Customer Service: Is It Necessary?
Having a home business does not mean that customer service is not important. Quite the opposite is true, because your home business does not have a huge customer base, so it is important to keep your customers satisfied so they tell their friends and become repeat customers. Just because you never see your customers face to face does not make them any less important to the success of your home business.
Good customer service in a home business makes sure that customer concerns and complaints are handled professionally and appropriately. The motto that the customer is always right is just as true in a home business as it is anywhere else. Customers are what makes your home business a success, and it is important that your customer are satisfied, and that there is an available way to resolve problems and make the customer happy. Having a customer service program in place will ensure that customers have a good experience when dealing with your home business.
Satisfied customers give a business the best advertising there is, word of mouth. This type of advertising can not be bought, it can only be given by satisfied customers. If you do not have good customer service in your home business, the success of the home business is doubtful. Happy customers form the basis for repeat customers, and these customers are happy to tell everyone they know about your home business. Neglecting customer service because you think it unnecessary for a home business is a big mistake that can cost your home business success in the end.
Customer service is a necessary part of running a successful home business, and if you do not put a customer service program in place then it could cost your home business potential customers, profits, and success. Even though you never see your customers face to face, they form a very important base for your home business, and it is important that your home business assures customers of their importance to your organization.
By assuring quality customer service and giving customers the resources necessary to solve any problems or complaints, your home business will be more successful and profitable. Treat customers like the valuable resource that they are, because without satisfied customers there is no reason for your home business to stay open. Customers are the reason that your home business makes a profit, and a good customer service program for your home business will reflect this philosophy.
Customer Service In A Home Business
It is very exciting to have a home business that you operate and manage. Many people take advantage of a home business in the wellness industry. But the key to remember is that there are many, many home business companies that you are competing with on a daily basis. To be very successful, you need to have an advantage over your competitors. Your biggest advantage that many new business owners overlook is customer service.
Our customers are our bread and money. Without a strong customer base we would not have a home business to run and operate. There are tons of companies in the wellness industry that are competing for the same niche customer base that we are. The good news is that you can have a leading edge over your competitors by providing excellent customer service in ways that the other guys have not thought of or simply do not want to take the time to do.
Make your company a personal company. With computers and programs, too often customers start to feel like they are just another customer number in your data base system. You never want your customers feeling like this. You must take the time to make them your top priority. One step is to make sure that their orders go out in a timely manner. You might be busy and even need help during peak seasons, but it is very important to make sure that customers get their orders in a timely manner.
Instead of using auto responders, send your clients an email personally thanking them for their order and letting them know that the order is on the way. This might seem time consuming and actually if you’re having a successful wellness industry home business, it is in fact time consuming. It is important to either send these thank you notes and order confirmations yourself or have a friend or employee send them out.
If you hand pack your orders, make certain to hand write a thank you note for the order. You can still do the computer invoicing and packing slips. You are showing your customers that they are not just another number in your customer data base.
Follow up with your clients and customers. Ask them if they received their products and if the orders were fine. This lets them know that you care about them instead of just using them for their money. If there is a problem, take the time to correct it.
Do not do any additional selling like your competitors do. Just let the client or customer know that you are there for them should they need additional services, products, or have a problem with their current products or services.
The customer is always right no matter. If a customer complains about a product, you are better off refunding their money or correcting the problem than arguing with them. You want repeated business. Losing an occasional profit here and there from orders is much better than losing many of your potential repeat customers. Follow the philosophy that the customer is always right and try to correct problems to win over a customer than to argue with them.
You can follow these suggestions for taking the leading edge for customer service for home business. Just because you are a home business does not mean that you offer less than the big companies. In fact, you can offer more customer service and find yourself growing by leaps and bounds in your new wellness industry home business.
Business Owners: Customer Satisfaction Is Key
As a consultant for people who are considering starting their own small business, I naturally have many things to share with people. Clients come to me with a host of questions about the process of starting a business and about the details of what to focus on above everything else. Once we have talked through the logistics and the finances that are necessary in starting a business, I quickly move into talking about the keys to running a successful business. The first key that I always talk about is customer satisfaction.
Before I share with clients that customer satisfaction is my number one key to success, I make them list in order of priority what they feel are the top ten keys to success in their future business. This is important because it gets them thinking about their goals and about actually having to perform for their business to be a success. Most of the time my clients rank customer satisfaction somewhere in their list, but it is very rare that it makes the number one spot. They are shocked when I reveal my list and they see customer satisfaction all the way on the top.
I feel strongly about customer satisfaction for many reasons. I guess the biggest reason is that the whole purpose of a business is to invite customers and to meet a need that they have. If business owners and potential business owners lose sight of the fact that they are in business for the customer and not for the money, then they will never have a successful business. I find that businesses are prosperous and long-lasting to the degree that they truly do make customer satisfaction the center of all they do.
Customer satisfaction means a variety of things for the business owner, but the main thing it means is that the needs of the customer are the bottom line and the driving force behind all decisions that are made for the business. It means that gaining and keeping customers is important enough to a business that they are willing to make changes if necessary based on what customers want.
Customer satisfaction is the missing key in many struggling businesses. Give customers what they want in a way they want and in a friendly matter and many more of our companies would be doing better. Customer satisfaction is hard to achieve, yet with intention and care it can be rewarding for everyone involved.
Build a strong business with strong customer relationships
Most businesses spent time attracting customers to a product or service, trying to win their trust and then ending the whole process with a sale. That tactic seems obvious to most people. What often is neglected is the post-sale follow up with customers, particularly when it comes to online businesses. We should look at the time after a sale as an opportunity not only to improve our products but also to establish long-lasting relationships with our customers.
It takes much more effort to win a new customer than to maintain a relationship with an existing customer. But maintaining current customer relationships is just as critical and I’d even dare to say, more important than gaining new customers. What can we do to keep our established customers feel appreciated? You need to follow up with your customers.
Following up may be as simple as writing an email or giving a phone call to a customer a few weeks after a sale. At Screaming Bee, I make it a personal goal to contact every customer that buys our voice-changing software, MorphVOX, within 2-3 weeks after a sale.
Does this take time? It sure does. Is it worth it? Absolutely! Not only does this allow us to get good feedback from customers in order to improve our software, but also it establishes a more solid, long-lasting relationship that goes beyond the point-of-sale.
Most people were surprised that I would be willing spend the time to talk with them and were touched by the personal attention they received. And I was also surprised at how uncommon it was for online businesses to follow up on their customers. Some of the typical comments that I have received as the result of my efforts include:
”I really appreciate the personal touch, vs. the usual automated ‘we have received your email’ garbage, followed by... well, nothing usually...”
”Huh, never had customer support quite like this I appreciate it...”
People don’t like being ignored and definitely like being heard. There are many businesses that are ignoring their customers and, as a result, losing them.
Your current customers are the heart and core of your business. These customers provide return business and also provide the essential word-of-mouth promotion that no clever advertisement or marketing scheme will ever out-perform. Treat your customers like your own family. Go out of your way to communicate with them. If you neglect them, they will go elsewhere.
4 Reasons Why Customer Loyalty Is Vital To Your Business
Have you ever wondered why some businesses may set up shop in areas that might not be very conducive to business and do quite well, while others are placed at major thoroughfares where walk by and drive by traffic are all but guaranteed, yet within six months they fold and the place goes up for lease or sale? The truth of the matter is that success is not always determined by your location – although it does play a vital role – but more often than not it is dictated by customer loyalty.
Here are four reasons customer loyalty is vital to your business:
1. First and foremost is the fact that a loyal customer is a repeat customer. This person will know about your business practices, about what to expect from your goods or service, the advantages and the disadvantages, and she or he will do business with you in such a way that it is a mutually satisfying transaction.
2. As you establish a relationship with your customer, you are also establishing a relationship with the customer’s family. Thus, it is not uncommon to have the wife bring in the dry cleaning for the family and turns her mother, mother in law, aunt, and best girlfriend on to your business. As the husband is sent one day to pick up the dry cleaning he becomes familiar with the business, and he will tell his brother, business associates, and others who are looking for a drycleaner. Thus, you are suddenly becoming a commodity which is being shared with others.
3. While family referrals are great, business referrals are even better. If you are a dry cleaner, you will want the dress maker down the street to recommend your services to its customers. Similarly, if there is bridal shop with which you may have some professional ties, then these business referrals are simply priceless! Customer loyalties – when you have other business owners or clerks shopping at your store or utilizing your service – are quite often the gateway to a great number of new walk in customers.
4. Yet the fourth and perhaps most important reasons why customer loyalty is vital to your business rests in the fact that many major purchases are not made during the initial contact. For example, if you are a furniture store, you might have someone come in looking for a computer desk. While these may be expensive – depending on the materials – by and large these items are small fish. Yet if the consumer is satisfied with the product, the delivery, the setup and also the price, the odds are good that she or he will be back when it is time to furnish the nursery, buy that new wall unit, or acquire that bedroom set that was saved up for!
So, customer loyalty is one of the many foundation stones you have to put in place if you are going to build a successful business.