Make Your Customers Raving Fans

One of the best ways to increase your sales and keep customers for life is simply thanking them for their business. Your customers are the life blood of your business.

When a customer has a bad experience, the word spreads quickly. They tell 13 people, who tell 4 people, for a total of 52 people. When a customer has a good experience, they will tell others, but not as many as an unsatisfied customer will.

It seems easy to thank your customers for their business, yet many business owners do not take the time to do this. Typically, we sign up a new customer, think the job’s done and off we go looking for our next new customer.

Of all the products and services you purchased and all the companies you patronized in the last month, when was the last time someone told you they appreciated your business? Probably not often, if at all.

Here’s a story that says it all…

A young boy was working at the local market as a grocery clerk. This was his first job and he wanted to be the best grocery clerk they ever had. He thought if he greeted customers with a big “hello,” they would leave with a big smile. To his surprise many of the customers would say very little back to him or nothing at all. This made him very sad. He wondered why were they so glum?

He thought hard and long about what he could do to cheer them up. Suddenly, it came to him. Maybe they don’t feel appreciated. He knew many of them had been shopping at the market for years. When was the last time the store manager, cashier, or grocery clerk thanked them for their business?

So, he went home and on small pieces of paper he wrote…”Thank you for being a loyal customer and shopping at our market. We appreciate your business. Have a great day!” He then dropped each note into the customers’ shopping bags as they were leaving. Well, you can imagine their surprise when they found this little note of appreciation.

Customers started coming into the market smiling. Many went up to John shaking his hand to personally thank him for making their day. And, they started raving to all their friends about the personalized service they received.

Soon after more and more people started shopping at this little market because they felt appreciated. Just a simple note made such a big impact. The little market became the most popular market in the area. The store manager couldn’t thank John enough and soon he was promoted.

So what did John do that made such a difference?

• He went the extra mile for the customer.
• He wrote a personalized note of appreciation.
• He cared first about the customer.
• He took the time to thank the customer for their business.
• He was creative in his thinking.

When was the last time you did that for your customer?

It doesn’t take a lot of time to show your customers how much you appreciate their business. What you get back is worth gold. Happy customers become your referral resource, your raving fans forever, and customers for life.

Here’s 10 easy and simple ways to show customer appreciation. Choose one that will work for your business and give it a try.

1. Send “thank you for your business” cards throughout the year, not just at the holidays.
2. Make a note of clients’ birthdays, anniversaries, children’s birthdays, special events and send cards.
3. Send personal hand-written notes and articles of interest.
4. Design a Customer Appreciation Plan to reward loyal customers.
5. Send different gifts—it’s not the size, it’s the thought that counts.
6. Call loyal customers to let them know you appreciate their business.
7. Call new customers thanking them for choosing you.
8. Survey customers to see what they like and what they don’t like about doing business.
9. Periodically touch base with customers to let them know about events, new products, invitation for lunch, to visit your office.
10. Every day thank a customer for his or her business.

Remember that customers are our lifeblood. Every day tell a customer you do care about them and appreciate his or her business.

If you would like to use this article on your website, or for your own ezine, not a problem; however, there’s one thing you MUST include: Rochelle Togo-Figa, The Sales Breakthrough Expert, is the creator of the Sales Breakthrough System™, a proven step-by-step sales process that will help you close more sales, sign on more clients and make more money with ease and velocity. To sign up for her free sales articles and teleclasses on closing more sales, visit www.SalesBreakthroughs.com.