It happens to everyone. Once you have a customer, your attention shifts to how you are going to get more of them.

You have built a personal and strong relationship with the small number of customers that you do have partly because you have plenty of time to dedicate to them… what you are short on is more customers.

But more customers mean you have less time for each of them, and the important task of maintaining those relationships slowly shifts to the back seat. After all, it is a necessity to get new customers if you are going to build a sustainable business. But some people are getting it right. One particular consultant has had the same base of customers for over 15 years, and has never had to promote themselves. This scenario is not always possible in every industry, but it shows the potential for loyalty to contribute to your business.

When you look at it objectively – it is a pretty simple concept:

• New customers cost more money. First you have to find them, then you need to promote to them which can involve advertising, non-chargeable sales visits and collateral (e.g. brochures).
• Keeping existing customers costs a lot less – mostly a bit of time (which you would have to spend on new customers anyway).

So – if you spend excessive time gathering new customers at the expense of your existing client base, you could end up losing some loyal customers. You can start to see how the indirect and hidden costs start to mount up.

And of course getting those previous customers back is near impossible.

Further, if you look after your existing customers in the right way, it can also mean:

• Referrals – if the customer loves what you do for them, they will recommend you to their peers
• Testimonials – many new customers will judge you by what your existing customers think of you. Testimonials are a great tool to use on collateral.
• More work – if they like what you are doing for them, they will be more encouraged to use you for other parts of their business. Remember that as you maintain your relationship, your customer is growing, and their needs will grow and change.

So when you are looking at your business processes and the amount of time dedicated to each function, make sure you take into account the importance of keeping those existing relationships.

Click Here To Read Start-Up Businesses – The Importance of Customer Loyalty: Part 2

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