7 Tips on Keeping Customers for Life

Loyal customers are the backbone to any successful business.
Discover new ways to turn newcomers into fans.
By Jeff Wuorio

Thinking Beyond the One-shot Customer
  It’s the peak of summer and your office air conditioner has broken down. You track down a repair company using the phone book and they say they can fix it – in two weeks!

  But this may not have happened if you were a regular customer. You may be part of the company's "front of the line" program, which means the company gives you priority status.

  Sound cool? Sound like the kind of perk that could make you a lifelong customer? Indeed.

  Programs and strategies akin to the air conditioning company’s "front of the line" program can be just the thing to transform a one-shot sale into a lifelong customer. Granted, there are scads of ways to do that, but here are seven that may be just the wrinkle that fits your business:

1. Deliver What You Say You're Going to Do
"If the business can't deliver on basics, then any other steps will be wasted effort," says Ruth Stevens of eMarketing Strategy, a consulting company. In other words, far too many businesses focus on ways to keep customers, only to lose sight of the fact that their product or service simply isn't what it should be. Make certain that the core of what you do is deserving of long-term customer loyalty, and then look for ways to nurture it.

2. Expect the Best
  Another stumbling block for many businesses is waiting for customers to "prove" their worth before they start to take steps to cement the relationship. Instead, approach everyone as a potential lifelong customer: "Don't adopt the mindset that a customer must 'earn' their way into your good graces as a business," says Erin Duckhorn of Crucial Technology, an online memory upgrade provider. "Instead, we assume from the very beginning that this new customer is going to be a long-term loyal customer and treat them as such." By treating your customers respectfully from the start and expecting that they will pay on time — rather than prodding them about payment deadlines before it ever becomes an issue — can engender long-term customer loyalty, Duckhorn says.

3. From There, go Beyond the Usual
  Once the basics are working, one way to win a customer for life is to consistently exceed the expected. Establish a baseline of good, and make it policy to climb to better and beyond. For instance, E.D. Foods, an online provider of soups and other food products, wins plaudits for placing orders for items that customers want but can't find in its online catalogue. "It's really simple," says co-owner Leslie Eiser. "Have great products and provide customers with service beyond what they were expecting."

4. Watch Your Customer, Not Your Bottom Line
  A continuing element of lifelong customer loyalty is more attention to the needs and preferences of your clientele and less on your earnings growth. Of course, profits are crucial. But long-term solvency derives from customers who are also there for the long haul. And that stems from a business that listens in any number of ways. "I've always asked my customers' opinions of new product ideas," says Ellen Cagnassola of MaryEllen's Sweet Soaps, an online soap retailer. "Keeping them a part of the process can inspire them in more ways than one."

5. Nurture Lifelong Employees
  An effective strategy to win long-term clientele doesn't exist in a vacuum. Treat your employees as you would a customer who you want to see year after year. Not only does that encourage staff to also do their bit to entice customer loyalty, it's simply a good idea to maintain a consistent emphasis on a supportive, responsive environment.

6. Make Customers Want to Stick Around
  Great service or products are terrific, but it never hurts to stack the deck to lure customers into the long-term fold. In Franklin Plumbing's case, that means discounts for repeat customers. For Fern Reiss of PublishingGame.Com, an independent resource for readers, authors and book publishers, it's a 25% discount on updated titles if customers send in the cover of an old title. "Because my books are updated every three to six months, and because the publishing industry changes so quickly, many people who like the book end up re-ordering it on a regular basis," she says. "They get the latest information, for sale — and I get the repeat business."

7. Be Picky About Your Lifelong Customers
  Saying some people aren't cut out to be lifelong customers sounds blasphemous to some. But the fact is that some customers are more trouble than they're worth. Monitor what goes into keeping a customer satisfied; if it's too costly or simply too much work, it's probably better to put your lifelong-customer building muscle elsewhere. "Look at your service costs. Some clients mandate expensive sales coverage and some always insist on face-to-face meetings with a sales rep," Stevens says. "If they're a problem, give them a competitor's number or manage the relationship more carefully. But it's a myth to say that everyone should be a lifelong customer."