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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.
Contact Mike

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

Yesterday was a holiday and I received one of the best gifts that I have ever received, and it wasn’t done on purpose.

My wife hooked up with an old friend that neither of us has seen or talked to in about ten years.  They went out for the evening  and spent about seven hours catching up.

The next morning, we all -my wife and I, our friend and our two children, went out for breakfast.  It was nice for me to see her and catch up as well.

Later in the day our long lost friend and some other friends came over for  dinner.  We barbecued, played card games and made homemade ice cream.

We sat around the patio, joking and talking, enjoying the beautiful weather and each others company.  We ended about 11:00pm and all went home.

After all that your probably wondering what’s this “Best gift ever” is.

The gift was time.  Quality time spent with friends and/or family.  After everyone had left I was sitting there thinking how nice it was to to spend the day, not only celebrating our Nations Independence but to spend it with people who are important in our lives.

So take the time to give the gift that really costs you nothing, yet you can’t put a price on it.  No amount of money can take the place of time well spent with others.

Call a friend, a brother, sister or mother.  Get together and spend some time talking about old times and times to come.  Share your goals and dreams with one another. It truly is the gift that keeps giving.

Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods…Aristotle

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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

When it comes time to get a gift for a family member or friend how do you decide what to get.  Well you take into consideration their likes and dislikes, hobbies or interests.

You choose something that, based on your intimate knowledge of them, you know they will enjoy.

But what about when it comes to business gifts?  How do you make a good choice when you may not know that much personal information about your recipient?  One way is to guess.  Get a gift and hope for the best.  However, you may not get them a memorable gift or a gift they can use.  It might just be something they will toss away or give to somebody else.

The best  choice for a gift is one that the recipient makes for themselves.  But how do you do that?

Easy!  Our Gift Collections make giving business gifts and incentives easy by offering the Gift of Choice. With these collections, recipients choose their own gift from a wide selection of top-quality, brand-name merchandise by redeeming them online. It’s the perfect solution for small to mid-size businesses – and virtually every budget, occasion, and event!

How do they work?

It’s simple and convenient for your business. You just:

1. CHOOSE the budget range you want to stay within.
2. BUY a Gift Collection on line or from your sales associate.
3. GIVE the gift to the recipient to redeem for their perfect gift!

Then, the recipient:

1. DISCOVERS and browses their Gift Collection online.
2. SELECTS the perfect gift from the many name-brand items.
3. RECEIVES the gift shipped right to their door, free of charge.

Here are some occasions when these Gift Collections work amazingly well:

• Sales incentives
• Holidays
• Employee weddings/new baby
• Customer thank you
• New customer welcome
• Corporate events
• Promotions
• Service awards
• Employee acknowledgment
• Safety awards

Here is what these Gift Collections can do for your business?

They can be given to employees, co-workers, supervisors, managers, customers, business associates, and service providers to help:

• Increase productivity
• Generate sales increases
• Improve morale
• Strengthen employee performance
• Create a safer workplace
• Inspire great ideas and suggestions
• Develop loyalty and dedication
• Enhance work environment

Why give these Gift Collections?

Well they have been rewarding, motivating, and inspiring employees and customers for nearly 40 years, and they are trusted by businesses because they offer:

• 180-day Satisfaction Guarantee
• Easy online redemption
• Popular brand-name gifts
• No minimum order required
• Monetary value not displayed to recipient
• Saves the time and expense of shopping for gifts

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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

If you are like most business professionals, you are pulled in many directions on a daily basis. Sometimes even more often. It is easy to get bogged down in the mundane tasks necessary to keep your business moving forward. BEWARE!

Although business must get done, be careful to not get so busy that you lose focus on what’s important – and in case you didn’t know, it’s people and relationships. I attended a luncheon/conference and heard Sharon Lechter, co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, say “Focus on your people more than your profits”.

While profits are critical in business, you will never have them without people. It’s the people factor that will multiply the profit factor exponentially at the rate you nurture and build mutually beneficial relationships. Ask yourself this question, “Are you selling or are you serving?”. Be honest with yourself on this one -if you’re not, you are only fooling yourself. People don’t want to be sold, but they are willing to buy from those that put others needs before their own.

I learned through a business networking association for women that I once belonged to that you should “give first, share always”. This phrase really struck a cord with me. If you have ever heard me present for a group, you undoubtedly have heard this phrase too – I find myself repeating it often. When you are willing to give of yourself and share with others you will attract people with the same mindset and it will come back to you ten fold.

We’ve all heard the saying “what goes around comes around”. Often it was from our parents when we did something wrong… It works to our benefit also. The fun part is you never know where it will come back around from. You may have helped someone with an idea to overcome a business challenge and then you unexpectedly got a new client. It happens all the time. Just be sure that what you put out is something you eventually want to get back. Take care of and help others, the rest will take care of itself.
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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

While this question has stumped many men for years, it’s something that as a business owner you need to know. Although women may represent half of the total consumer market, they do make or influence the majority of all purchasing decisions.

It’s important to understand that women love to gather information. They want to make an educated decision and will ask as many questions as they feel necessary to do so. Let them take the lead -they are not looking for a quick fix. Remember, women communicate differently than men. They may even tell you several stories to ensure that they are getting their point across. And although it may seem that they are all over the board, they have a complex thought process that is very thorough. While you’re thinking she’s not focused, she’s probably frustrated that you cant keep up. When push comes to shove, don’t do either. Women will make a decision to do business with you when they are good and ready. They have to believe that they are making the best decision.

It’s very important to understand that women value relationships. They will only do business with people they know, like and trust. Trust will come much easier is she feels you are looking to create a long-term relationship versus just make a sale. Be sincere and spend time building a relationship with her. Go above and beyond, but be sure not to patronize her. She will see right through you. Let her know you value her and want to earn her business and her trust. Once you have her trust, your efforts will be rewarded with her dollars, her loyalty and her referrals.

Since women account for 85% of all consumer purchases, it’s definitely worth your time to focus on what’s important to her. To learn more, read this great article from Inc.: The Six Costliest Mistakes You Can Make in Marketing to Women
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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