You? Your employees? New customers? Your existing customers?
Acquiring more customers and clients is a main focus for many businesses. Yes, that’s important to for your business’ growth. But if you neglect prioritizing those customers, you’ll lose them to a competitor who appreciates them.
The financial side of loyal customers
Here are some quotes from entrepreneurs, founders, and authors. Wise words on the financial impact of keeping your existing customers happy.
“One customer well taken care of could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.” ~Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker
“The single most important thing is to make people happy. If you are making people happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.” ~Derek Sivers, Founder of CD Baby
“It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages.” ~Henry Ford, Founder of Ford Motor Company
Focus on the customer, not your competition
“Until you understand your customers – deeply and genuinely – you cannot truly serve them.” ~Rasheed Ogunlaru, author, speaker, coach
“If you don’t appreciate your customers, someone else will.” ~Jason Langella, marketing entrepreneur and brand builder
“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” ~Michael LeBoeuf, business author
“Instead of focusing on the competition, focus on the customer.” ~Scott Cook, American businessman, Co-Founder of Intuit
“Make your customer the hero of your stories.” ~Ann Handly
Customers are your most valuable assets
“It takes months to find a customer… seconds to lose one.” ~Vince Lombardi, American football coach and executive
“Customer service is the new marketing.” ~Jim Bush, EVP at American Express
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” ~Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
“Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.” ~Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator, and author known as the father of management thinking
Are you paying attention to your existing customers? What are you doing to show appreciation to them?
Ideas to improve your customer relationships
- An excellent well-written email campaign to engage your readers. This can include welcome emails, thank you’s, onboarding info, specials for current customers and many more
- Newsletters on a pre-set schedule to share information, tips, and something entertaining
- Phone calls to new customers
- Webinars for more information on your product or service
- Office hours so customers can ask questions
- Surveys
If you’d like to improve how you connect with your customers, let’s brainstorm ideas.