public speaking

25 Ways to Keep Customers for Life

  1. Reward your customers.  Send them a gift or a lead for new business
  2. Buy or use their products or services.  Loyalty works both ways.
  3. Be accessible and return phone calls or emails promptly.
  4. Keep your word.  Deliver what you promised – on time.
  5. Under promise, and over deliver.
  6. Be flexible.  Be open for business outside normal hours, even on holidays.
  7. Thank your customers for their business. Send handwritten notes.
  8. Always look professional. Your customers should feel proud to do business with you.
  9. Have integrity.  Trust is hard to build, almost impossible to recover.
  10. Be supportive of your customers – like a good friend.
  11. Remember their birthdays and anniversaries. Send cards and small gifts.
  12. Promote their business to others. Believe in them.
  13. Be friendly. Aim to make it a pleasant experience to deal with you.
  14. Eliminate hassle. Make it easy to buy from you.
  15. Be a problem solver, not a hardware store.
  16. Have real people dealing with customer queries, not a multiple choice answering machine.
  17. Treat existing customers like pure gold.
  18. Occasionally, cancel an invoice, just for goodwill.
  19. Help customers get what they need, even if you don’t supply it yourself.
  20. Keep customers informed of all your new developments and products, and offer them the same special deals you offer new customers.
  21. Train your staff to have a welcoming, helpful and respectful attitude.
  22. Use Mystery Shoppers to check how customers are treated.
  23. Who speaks for your company? Call your business yourself to learn what callers hear.
  24. Never be indifferent to customers or prospective customers.
  25. Treat your staff well.  They are your partners in business.