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It is an amazing process to get
a customer. The main emphasis always has to be on the "customer." To make the business more profitable, you will spend hours, days
and (at times) months working on the marketing plan. Then you
have to fine tune the business to fit the customer's needs. But
what happens when the business starts to grow?
Do you start cutting corners?
Does the drive to build the business start to slow down? Do you
lose that focused "eye of the tiger?" How many times
have you failed to follow up with a customer that wanted more
information? Have you ever procrastinated to the point that a
couple of weeks have passed and you still haven't contacted your
potential customer? By then, you may have felt you couldn't get
back to them because too much time has gone by. There goes another
customer down the tubes.
An inquiring lead asking for
more information is a potential customer. They've already taken
the action to call you. This is where the marketing effort has
aimed to get the prospect. If the customer is in the buying mood
why not give them what they want? Failure to reply to a customer
promptly will destroy good customer relations along with your
creditability.
Recently I was ready to make
a purchase and needed some additional information. I wrote a
detailed message to the appropriate company explaining what I
needed. But I received a one-sentence reply that answered none
of my questions. I said to myself, "Does this company really
want my business? Do I really want their product?"
In another incident, I needed
to contract some work to be done. I filled in the required data
and submitted the form as they asked me to do. I was ready and
willing to spend $1,250 to get the work done. One year later
I still have not heard from the company. This particular company
was recommended to me and they were supposed to be very reputable.
Why did they go to all the trouble of setting up a business if
they do not take care of their number one asset -- their customers?
If you don't take care of your customers then someone else will.
Competition in the marketplace
is at an all-time high. It costs less to keep a customer than
it does to go out and get a new one. Treat your customers like
gold and they will reward you one-thousand fold.
That's the way I see it.
Acey Gaspard
A Touch of Business.com
[ More Article by Acey Gaspard ] [ Entrepreneurial Tip of The Week ]
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