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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.
Contact Mike

Often times when trying to figure out what gift to give we can spend days racking our brains to find the “Perfect” gift.

But what is a “Perfect” gift?  Is it an expensive trinket? An exotic trip?  I think sometimes the “Perfect” gift can be perfectly simple.  Here’s what I mean.

Last month I celebrated my birthday.  Being as I have done this for the last 49 years in a row I didn’t think much of it.  That is until I started receiving birthday wishes from friend and family on Facebook.

Now I thought it was nice after 2 or 3 of them had been posted.  After 15 or so I started to think that it was pretty cool that people, my friends, would take the time to wish me well.  As I reached 75 birthday wishes I was feeling quite emotional.  How awesome was it that all these friends and family were taking time out of their day the wish ME a happy birthday!

I know, it was only on Facebook.  I mean how long could it possibly take to type “Happy Birthday”?  How much effort is really involved in that?  You see, that doesn’t matter. No one bought me an expensive gift.  They didn’t take me on a trip or out to a fancy dinner.

Instead they took a minute out of their lives to wish me a happy birthday.  That minute may not have meant much to them but the fact is they gave that minute to me and that means the world.  The feelings of love, appreciation and friendship touch me today, a month after the event has passed.

Sometimes it’s the simplest of gifts that mean the most and last the longest.

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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

More and more companies of all sizes have a lot of focus on branding themselves.  Now I don’t mean with a hot branding iron.  I mean that they have created something that makes them stand out from their competitors.

Be it a specific type of product, a logo, specific colors denoting their business or a reputation of how they treat their customers.  Any one or all of those things can signify branding.

What is it for your business?  Does your logo never change and is it incorporated into everything you use for advertising and promotions, kind of like McDonald’s Golden Arches?

Do you have a specific and unique color scheme for your company that lets people know at a glance that it’s you, like Century 21′s yellow and black?

Perhaps you have a reputation of always taking the time to remember, thank and appreciate your customers for giving you their hard earned money and right now we do know that it is HARD EARNED.

Whatever your branding is be sure to keep it up until it becomes a part of who your company is.  You want people to know that when they see that color, when they hear that jingle or when they hear your name that they think of you right away and that it is in a positive light.
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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

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.
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

Gift exchanges between co-workers can help  promote a relaxed work environment as well as add some fun and excitement into the workplace .

Gift giving  at work, like any other gift exchange,  can be fun and enjoyable . Here are some rules,  or guidelines as it were, to follow to  ensure that everyone has a good time and nobody gets their feeling hurt.

1. The reason that we have gift exchanges at work is to build relationships between co-workers there by creating a pleasant atmosphere to work in.  Gift giving in the office should not be considered  an opportunity to try and bribe your boss or anyone with expensive gifts. You can’t buy friendship, at least not the right kind of friendship.

2. Now this is very important.  If there is a dollar amount limit on the gifts to be purchased DO NOT EXCEED IT!  For some buying that one extra gift at the holidays can be financially stressful, also you don’t want to appear to be trying to buy your way into someones good graces by getting something expensive.

3. Spend some thought when buying gifts. Don’t rush into the store at the last minute to purchase gifts. Take some time to find something that the recipient would enjoy. Knowing something about the person for who you are buying a gift helps in selecting a gift that will indeed be appreciated.

4. Stay away from buying personal items such as lingerie when buying gifts for work. Perfume used by women is a personal use item. Unless you know the person well and what perfume they use don’t buy personal cosmetic items. You may love a certain perfume but others may not share your taste not to mention that giving personal gifts can often send the wrong message to not only the recipient but to others in the office or a spouse.

5. Do not leave your gift in the bag you bought it in. Gift wrapping gives a classy and elegant look to any gift when done right.  There are many simple and inexpensive ways to wrap a gift. Don’t forget to include a signed gift card when giving a gift. You will be surprised how many people include a gift card and forget to sign it.

Remember to stay within the agreed upon budget, avoid gifts that are too personal and keep in mind the tastes of the recipient not yours. Following these tips will ensure a fun and memorable time for all.

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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