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Are Your Customers Up for Grabs?
By Acey Gaspard
©2004 All Rights Reserved
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. Plus, 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. Well, that's another customer down the tubes!
An inquiring lead who is asking for more information is a potential customer. The action to call you has already been taken. This is where the marketing effort has aimed to get the prospect. 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 I 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. Hmm! 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 data required and submitted the form as they asked me to do. I was ready and willing to spend $1250 to get the work done. And, a 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 a thousand fold.
ACEY GASPARD
Get hhis latest book "A Touch of Business-The E-book." Learn the business mentality to stay ahead of the curve in business. Plus, find a collection of "street smart" business information packages that will impact your business. Learn new ideas to apply to your everyday strategy and become a success. Visit http://www.atouchofbusiness.com?ao2
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