First sales are always more difficult than repeat sales.  For this reason, owners of small businesses constantly look for ways to keep their customers happy.  Regardless of what you sell, there are a lot of ways you can maintain a loyal customer base.  Below are a few tips:

Stay an Expert In Your Field 

Keep up to date on the news and innovations that affect your industry.  It’s critical for your customers to think of you as an expert in your industry.  With easy accessibility to information on the Internet, customers do their research and are more informed than ever.  And no customer wants to know more than the “expert”.  That is why it is so important for you to commit to ongoing training and doing what you need to do to stay up to date with your industry.  Customers will stay loyal if you stay committed to lifelong learning. 

Solve the Problems Fast 

Customers rarely tell you straight out if they perceive an issue, so it is important to stay intuitive.  You might want to take your customer’s pulse periodically by reaching out and asking if everything is going well, or if there are areas that need improvement in your working relationship. 

It is most important to avoid the SODDI defense at all costs when you do hear of a problem your customer is encountering (some other dude did it).  It’s your business, so everything that goes wrong is your fault – take the blame with grace.  Then, take action to fix it fast.  Your customers rarely encounter that mentality.  Instead of the error being foremost in their minds, the amiable resolution will keep them returning as repeat customers.  In fact, you may find that some of your biggest “problem” customers will end up being your best referral source. 

Remind the Customer Why They Chose You in the First Place 

This is no time to be humble; continually point out your advantages over your competitors, and praise your customer for being so perceptive and astute to choose you.  There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t like to be praised, and its the perfect opportunity to help them recall your competitive advantages at the same time. 

Creating loyal customers is no more than treating them so well that no one else could compare.  Give them such great service automatically, and they will demand the same for years to come.  That’s a loyal customer. 

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