How to Keep Your Customers

In this economy, keeping your customers is a matter of survival. Here are some tactics to secure your clients.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Keeping your customers is essential to the success of your business. Some very basic things will help you not only keep your client happy, but will generate leads down the road. First and foremost is customer service.

2. Most every business will tell you they have great service. I have to say, good customer service is so rare, that when I get it I am shocked! It's really not that hard to provide customer service well above and beyond your competitors. Start by being available and returning all calls regardless if you have good news or bad immediately. Many people put off returning calls if they know it is going to be bad, like if you forgot to ship something. If you hide, your customer knows you are hiding. I have had to make some rather unpleasant calls to fess up to my mistakes. Only once did I take a real beating, but within a day things were okay and I still have that customer today.

3. Do what you say you will and more. Don't promise you can get the widgets to Chicago by Tuesday if you don't know for sure. Giving the customer accurate delivery times, good or bad is crucial for their planning. If you loose a sale because you can't get the product on time, you never really had the sale. But by being up front, you build trust and confidence, again setting you above the competition. I always try to be realistic, then I try to push and do it even faster than I thought I could.

4. Don't try to be the cheapest. If you sell simply on price, you are not really a salesman but a price list. If you build your client list on price alone, they will leave you for the next lowest price. Be competitive, but realize, your service and expertise is like oil, you have it, nobody else does, charge what you want!

5. Answer questions. If someone has a question and you don't know the answer, find out for the customer. If they are looking for a product you don't have, but you can send them to a reliable source, you have once again proven your worth.

6. I is so easy to set yourself above the competition. If you follow some of these basic steps and really strive to take care of your customers needs no matter how large or small, they will be afraid to even shop around.