Recycling is a huge part of our culture now.  We recycle paper, plastics, metals, electronic equipment, the list goes on.  Recycling can be very very beneficial for a business.  The best thing a company can recycle is their customers.

Let me explain.  As a business owner you know that it takes a lot of work to get a customer to do business with you.  With almost any product or service available at the click of a mouse it’s a battle to get them in the door (or virtual door) let alone get them to come back.

So where do our customers go?

• Approximately 1% of your customers will not return or refer others because they will die. Well you can’t stop that one!
• Roughly 3% of your customers will move away and unless your a national chain you will lose that business also.
• About 5% develop other friendships.  You may be the best realtor in town but if your customer marries another realtor your luck has run out.
• Approximately 14% of your customers will leave because they are dissatisfied with the product.
• Around 68% of your customers don’t come back because they perceive an attitude of indifference from you, they don’t feel appreciated. It’s the silent killer of your business. This is the single biggest reason why customers don’t come back. Often you don’t even know it’s happened.

So there you have it.  About 3/4 of your customers leave you because you have failed to show them that you appreciate their business.

Here’s the big question, and yes you already know the answer.  Is it less expensive and frustrating to try to get new customers to buy from you? or to simply recycle the ones you have and get them to come back?

Take a minute to send a card, give a gift or just tell them to their faces that you appreciate them doing business with you.  That simple thing will keep them coming back for a very long 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.
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As we exit one year and enter another it is important that we look back at how our business has grown and evolved over these past 12 months.

If your business has grown and expanded as planned that is fantastic, I congratulate you.  If you failed to see the growth you had anticipated, don’t give up, simply reset those goals.  Take a hard look at what worked and what didn’t and make those course corrections.

It doesn’t matter if you are resetting goals or reaching for new ones, one thing that never changes is the fact that your customers want to be acknowledged and appreciated.  So what ever plan you are implementing be sure to incorporate a plan of appreciation.

Throughout the year take time and make plans to send thank you gifts to your customers.  A small gift, personal letter or email can make all the difference between a casual shopper and a loyal engaged customer.

Take the time to recognize your customers and show them appreciation for their business and they will be loyal and will be the best form of advertising you could ever ask for.

Make it a great year!
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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.
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Often times we feel like we are begging our customers to do business with us.  And with companies who perform the same or similar  service as you  do being just a Google search away it’s easy to see why we feel we have to beg.

Well put your begging cup away because there are other options.  When you are desperately trying to keep your customers coming back you look exactly that way, desperate, and your customers can see that.

Instead of begging them just appreciate them.  Thank them when they enter and exit your business or, if your don’t have a physical location, whenever you speak to or meet with them.    Gather as much of their personal information as possible, name, address, email, phone number, birthday, etc.

When you have that information you can send them thank you emails or notes.  You can send special offers to them for their birthdays or anniversaries.  You can even send them  “Just thinking about you” emails and notes.

By simply showing your customers that you appreciate them through acknowledgment both verbally and physically, with gifts and notes you will create not only customers that come back to you but customers that send their friends and relatives to you.

After all everybody likes to get an attaboy sometimes.

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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.
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Many business owners and managers think that the only reason that their business exists is to offer a product or service to their customers at a fair and competitive price.  And while that is in  fact true, your job is also to create customers to buy those products.

But getting customers in the door to spend money is just half of the battle.  The real goal is to get your customers to be happy enough with you that not only do they come back, but that they create more customers for you.  You need to create customers who create customers.

So how do you get customers to come back and bring friends and family?

First, stay in touch with your customers.  Newsletters, personal emails or cards, questionnaires or a simple phone call.  Personal emails or cards, I feel, are the best.  Having customers fill out questionnaires either in your store or on email is fantastic.  What better way to find out what your customers want than to ask them?  Personal phone calls can be a challenge with todays lists of  phone call opt-outs, however there are professional companies that can make those call for you.

The second way is using gifts.  Everyone like to receive a gift and sending personal gifts to your customers makes you stand out from your competition.  I don’t recommend sending out discounts to your store, instead offer a complimentary gift with no strings attached or a physical gift sent to their home.

Third, simply ask for referrals.  Let your customers know that you appreciate referrals and if they are happy with your service you would like them to tell their friends and family.

Another great way to get feedback from and stay in touch with your customers is social media, ie; Facebook, Twitter, etc.  Having a fan page, posting special promotions or customer surveys can be done easily and inexpensively through social media.  If your not using it you are missing the boat.

There are many ways to keep your finger on the pulse of what your customers want and expect and in doing so you will keep them happy and in turn they will tell everyone about you.

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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.
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Almost every business owner or manager will tell you that having loyal customers is the key to a successful business.  If that’s true then what are they doing to keep those customers coming back?

Most will tell you that they send emails or newsletters on a regular basis to keep in touch.  Others will say that they use a discount program to show their appreciation.

It’s not to say that these are bad things but they are not enough.  To create loyalty and get your customer engaged with you takes effort and planning.  Creating strong relationships is one of the most critical ways to retain more of your customers and grow your business faster because happy customers` will use you more and refer friends which will give you a tremendous competitive edge over your competitions.

Here are some statistics showing that challenges that businesses face today:

• Each year the average company loses 10-15% of its customer base
– Bain & Company
• “84% of customers who leave, do so because of poor service”
– Forum Corp
• “A typical business only hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers—the other 96% leave, 91% for good”
– Jim Barnes, “Secrets of CRM”

By understanding why your customers are leaving you and how you can retain them is priceless information.  The best way to find out what they want is to ask them, read the article ” You Just Need To Ask ” 11/19/2010

The sooner you know what makes your customers tick, the sooner you can begin to cultivate a strong and long lasting relationship to keep your business alive in any economy.

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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.
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So, the Holiday Season is upon us.  We start to think about all the people we need to get gifts for, kids, grand kids, aunts, uncles, parents, the list seems endless.

How do we determine what to get those people, especially when we may not see them too often and don’t really know their likes or dislikes?  For some of those people on your list you probably know enough about them that you have a pretty good idea of what they want or need.  For the others you could guess, but the best way is to ask.  Ask their parents or spouses or friends.

The most important thing is to put some thought into what you buy.  To just go out and grab something off the shelf because you need to get them something is a waist of your money and they won’t appreciate it.  I know I know, it’s the thought that counts, right?  Wrong!  The only thought that counts is if they think you actually cared about what you were getting them.

Here’s my thought.  Do a little home work and find out what your recipient wants or could use.  Giving something that they want but would never buy for themselves or something that they can use as a family is always a good route to take.  Take the time to know their tastes, decoration style and hobbies.

Let me tell you a story.  One year my wife and I were given an Asian style vase.  It was colorful and beautiful but it did not go with ANYTHING we had in our home.  I was ready to pack it in the back of a closet but my wife, bless her heart, chose to put it on a shelf next to some other nick nacks.  As you have probably guessed it came from someone on her side of the family.  I would have appreciated a simple card more than the vase because the card would have taken some though and consideration while the vase appeared to be something that was just grabbed at the last minute.

It is the thought that counts, the recipients thoughts.  Do they think you really cared or think you were just grabbing any old thing to give to them so you didn’t show up empty handed?

This year take time to put thought and consideration in the gifts you give, be it for family, friend or business.  Your thoughtfulness will be appreciated.

Have a Happy Holiday.
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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