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The biggest and best asset your company can have is it’s customers. We all know that the cost to bring in new customers is much higher than to keep a current one happy and coming back. So why is it that most business owners and managers put so much attention and expense into getting new customers instead of focusing on their existing customer base?  If you treat your current customers like they are important to you they will be your best source of advertising to bring new customers in, new customers that already have a good opinion of you from their friends.

Here is a fact – You can’t avoid losing some customers! But, you can cut down your losses. According to studies here are the reasons why your customers leave you:

1% die. If you can find a way of stopping this, please let the rest of us know -otherwise there is nothing you can do to stop these customers from leaving.

3% move.  If your store is on-line it’s because they have found a company that they are happier with, if you have a brick and mortar location they just left the neighborhood. However, if you treat your customers correctly and show them that they are appreciated they will go out of their way to shop your business. Treat them right and you will minimize your losses.

5% will go someplace else on the recommendation of family or friends. We all know word-of-mouth is powerful, however, I’ll say it again, if you treat your customers properly and make them happy with your products and services, the chances of them leaving you lessen, and as we said at the start of this, they will bring their friends to you.

9% will switch to a better product or service. How do you compete with this one? You had better make sure that what you offer in products and services is the best that can be found. Don’t be cheap or skimp when it comes to product quality or the level of customer service that you provide.

14% will leave due to being dissatisfied with your company, product or service or all three. Again, you can’t stop everyone from leaving but you want to be sure that when they do leave, you did all you could have to keep them.

Okay, so if your good at math you see that this is only 32% of your customers, what about the rest? A whopping 68% of your customers will be lost due to indifference. There was just nothing special about your companies products, services or staff that made them stay with you.  In short, you didn’t WOW them.

So what do you do?

You need to show appreciation, sincere appreciation for your customers. You must give them value at every turn. One thing you can do is be sure that your customers are greeted at the door.  Go into a QT convenience store (if you have them) and the clerks will always greet you as you come in.  Thank your customers for doing business with you, a simple word of thanks, a card, a gift or a special something that lets them know that you know they have choices and you appreciate them choosing you.

Doing these things, over time, will nurture and grow a relationship that will stand the test of time.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
Contact Mike

Every business desires the same thing – loyal customers. The question is ‘What are you doing to keep customers coming back?’.

The typical answer to this question is ‘We offer great customer service’ or ‘We offer quality products/service’. Honestly, that’s just not enough. Consumers today have more choices than ever and are torn in many directions. Their desire for convenience often overrides their intention of coming back to you. Loyalty to a location or a brand is a thing of the past – unless… there is a relationship. That relationship is usually with a person within a company, but can sometimes be with the business itself.

Here are 10 items to consider when building a loyalty program:

1. Quality Counts -utilize gifts that have a lasting effect, your customers will display their gift and conversations will come up
2. ROI -assess the program costs at least once a year
3. A Real Thank You? -make sure your appreciation doesn’t come with strings attached
4. Relevancy -know your customers, make sure to target their interests/needs
5. Make It A Reward -exclusivity means something, be careful how you promote the program (you want each customer to feel special)
6. Customer Service -always give individual attention and offer that personal touch, hand written notes and phone call followups are very effective
7. Frequent FollowUp -nurture your customers long-term, stay in touch through mailings, email marketing, phone calls, etc.
8. Use Event Marketing -host a special event (you could even create a referral program and encourage customers to bring friends)
9. Extend it with Incentives -incorporate other sales incentive and/or referral incentive programs, give your customers a reason to purchase again and refer their friends
10. Extend the Reach -utilize promotional products to generate an awareness of your brand, choose items that create a connection with your products/services

Remember, it takes work and effort to earn the loyalty of a customer -but the long term rewards are well worth it!
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

Everyone loves to be appreciated for a job well done or just a “thank you for your business”. Gifts have a way of saying what words can’t. With the giving of gifts becoming more and more popular in business, utilizing the many different occasions available is a great way to build quality relationships that will last a lifetime.

There are many reasons for gift giving in business:

To get the attention of a potential client or prospect
The completion of an important job or project
The opening of a new office
Holidays (Christmas, Anniversary, etc.)
Thank you to a client
To market or promote your products or service
Business milestone
A birth, wedding or retirement
To improve employee moral
An apology to a colleague
New mom or dad returning to work after a birth or an adoption
A gesture of goodwill
For the boss on Boss’s Day
Oops! We goofed
For an employee or client who is ill
To a client or employee who has had a death in their family
and many more…

All business gifts should be given with sincerity. That doesn’t mean you can’t be creative. Make your company stand out by giving gifts throughout the year. Celebrate your successes, that of your employees and of your clients.

Everyone knows that Christmas time is the biggest time of year for companies to give gifts, however, why not stand apart from your competitors and give gifts years round. The list above shows that there are many many opportunities to give business gifts! Take the time to let people know that they are appreciated and they will appreciate you for it.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
Contact Mike

Hiring, motivating and retaining good employees is, and always has been, a challenge for most companies. Combine that challenge with the challenge of managing work/life balance and you have got your work cut out for you. If you are looking to offer employees more family-focused incentives, you’re on the right track, as they are sure to be a big hit with your employees.

Below are a few tips to keep in mind when offering family-friendly incentives:

Focus on Flexible
Don’t be afraid to take non-traditional approaches to employee incentive. Consider offering employees time as a reward -allow them to come in an hour late or leave an hour early to spend more time with their family.

Focus on Health
Offer employees the chance to earn points in incentive programs that can be applied towards family gym memberships, yoga classes or other events the family can participate in together.

Think Outside the Box
Traditional family friendly incentives include board games, movie packages and restaurant gift certificates, but don’t forget about alternative options. Start a points system that can be applied to the cost of a family vacation, local amusement park tickets or a concert.

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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

There are 5 basic types of incentive programs that companies can adopt, each of them are used for a different purpose and can help generate results in a specific area.  Many companies choose to implement more than one incentive program based on their unique business goals. Whether offering several programs of the same type or mixing and matching various types to achieve your business goals, incentive programs play a vital role.  In fact, most successful companies have at least one incentive program in place at any given time.

Below is a basic description of the types of incentive programs and a simple description of how they are used:

Recognition Programs
used to reward employees for a job well done

Sales Incentive Programs
used to motivate salespeople and sales teams to reach their goals and increase sales

Length of Service Programs
used to celebrate annual anniversaries of employees

Wellness Programs
used to support employees health and fitness goals, helps to reduce absenteeism

Safety Programs
used to encourage employees to create a safe work environment

Regardless of the goals you have set for your company, there is an incentive program that can help you to achieve those goals. Choose the incentive program (or programs) that are applicable to your goals and get started -you will be pleasantly surprised by the results that can be achieved.
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About The Author:

Sally Liddicoat is a Wife, Mother, Speaker and the Founder & CEO of AttaBoy! Solutions. Her goal is to help businesses increase sales, generate ongoing referrals, strengthen relationships and create loyal customers and employees through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

Contact Sally

It doesn’t have to be a special occasion to give a gift. Gifts can be used year round and given to clients, business partners or customers. Gifts can be used to show appreciation to your clients and employees. The question is how do you choose a gift that is remembered and will strengthen relationships?

1. Be sure it’s something they will use! The gifts you give should be useful. Don’t just add to the pile of stress balls, pens and key chains that get lost in the back of their desk drawers. Instead, choose something that your clients will actually use … frequently.
2. How about something with some meaning behind it? Give a gift that will appeal to some aspect of their life, one that you know about through your relationship with him or her. For example, if you know that they spend a lot of time with their family choose something they can all enjoy. When you pay special attention like this and give a gift with meaning it will go alot further than a logo imprinted notepad.
3. Perhaps a gift that is helpful! Everyone loves to receive gifts, especially a gift they can use to make their lives a little easier. Why not give a business publication or subscription or specialty tool related to their business? If you give a gift that shows that you actually took a minute to put some thought toward it will go a very long way, and will be appreciated.
4. How about some non-business quality time with your client? Sometimes a social gift is perfect for the occasion. If your client likes football, give him tickets to a Cardinals game. Maybe take them to dinner before the game, and while you will probably talk a little business, you will still be building relationships. Heck, you can even have them invite a spouse or friend so you can get to know the important people in their lives and create an even stronger relationship with them.
5. Have some fun! On occasion it’s okay to give a plain old fun gift, just keep it tasteful. They say laughter is the best medicine, it’s also a great way to build relationships. Everyone likes to have some fun, and if it can be incorporated into work, even better. Sharing a laugh is one of the strongest relationship building tools around.

Regardless of what kind of gifts you give to build relationships and show appreciation, the whole point is to keep good employees with you and to keep your clients from moving on to the competition as well as to refer business to you. Remember that a gift that helps you further your relationship is a powerful tool.
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About The Author:

	Mike Liddicoat is a Husband, Father, Speaker and the Sales & Marketing Director of AttaBoy! Solutions. His goal is to help businesses maintain relationships, ensure future business and acquire new referrals through appreciation marketing. Throughout this blog you can sign up for updates, news, special offers, discounts and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.
Contact Mike