Business Opportunities Weblog

February 26, 2007 by Rich Whittle | 5 Comments

Work.com:

A business without customers is like a lake without water: empty. Keep yours full when you give your customers the service they crave and the gratitude they deserve.

• A simple, “Thank you,” accomplishes a lot when it comes to customer service. Verbally thank your customers for doing business with you each and every time you see them.
• Send handwritten thank-you notes to customers after they’ve made a major purchase; enclose a coupon for their next visit as an extra gesture of appreciation.
• Flatter customers — and learn how to better serve them — by asking for their opinions. Following a purchase, build and distribute a survey to find out how your customers’ experience could have been better.
• Identify your most loyal customers — with a membership card, for instance — and thank them for their consistent business with special discounts, promotions or gifts.
• Thank customers by keeping them informed. Send reminders about special promotions you’re running, notifications about new merchandise you’re stocking or newsletters about community events that you’re sponsoring.
• Show your appreciation for your customers by remembering their birthdays, anniversaries or other special days; send a card or handwritten note and enclose a coupon as a gift.
• Thank customers for referrals with a handwritten note, a phone call or even a small gift. Reinforcing referrals will encourage your customers to continue sending friends and neighbors your way.

Avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to thanking your customers; instead, practice one-to-one marketing in order to shower your patrons with personal attention.

Photo by MSDesign.

In Customer Service, Sales, Strategy | 5 Comments