Loyal Customers

Very early in my sales career I attended a course stressing the importance of repeat business to maintain the financial viability of a business. We spent many hours discussing on how to turn first time buyers into repeat customers.? Turning first time buyers into repeat customers is not a new concept. I enjoy the movie Miracle on 34th Street where Macy’s tries to out customer satisfaction Gimbel’s. I would like to take the customer satisfaction concept one step further with what I feel is the most valuable asset of a business, loyal customers.? I have spent a considerable amount of time on reviewing my customer base and found that there are a lot of onetime buyers. What distresses me is the amount of loyal customers that are no longer customers. ?

The loyal customer is one who will buy your product even when it is more expensive. The loyal customer is one who will recommend you to his peers. The loyal customer is one who will stand up and defend your company and products against unfair comments.? The loyal customer buys from you because they can depend on you to treat them with fairness and honesty. The businesses of America, large and small, have been built on the back of the loyal customer.

In the dental arena we are seeing companies merging and pressure from investors have increased such that businesses have lost that personal touch and civility.

In the age of computers and voicemail, companies are ignoring the fact that on the other end of the line is a living breathing person.? Businesses are focusing on gaining new customers and failing miserably to turn these new clients into loyal customers and lose loyal customers to the competition.

What can you do? If you believe like I do, make a difference. Acknowledge the people you come in contact with are living breathing persons and treat them with gratitude and respect.