Make it easy for your customers to do business with you. This concept is so important to developing and building stronger customer relationships that I’m going to focus just on that for a moment.

As a customer, have you ever walked into a place and heard the phrase “That’s our policy?” Those words are like a slap in the face with a cold, dead fish. I’m certain you don’t like hearing it, and I certainly didn’t appreciate that approach to my seemingly altered check at the bank. Well, neither do your customers! Even if you fill a very unique niche with your product or service, if you stand on policy or your terms and conditions at every turn, customers will figure out how to get what they need from someone else.

Have you ever tried to glue something, only to find that the glue was actually stronger than what you applied it to, so the end result was another break?

The same thing can happen when trying to stick like glue to your customers. If your foundation isn’t very strong, the best glue in the world won’t help you.

Your foundation is the relationship you have with your customers. It is your level of customer service—the way your business treats and values customers.

In order to succeed in any business, excellent customer service is paramount. I’ve always stood on the principle that you can never go too far with customer service.

Bill Glazer, internationally recognized marketing expert and president of Glazer Kennedy Insider’s Circle^TM, uses the phrase, “Inspect what you expect.” By that, he means that you should honestly evaluate how your company is addressing your customers.

How? There are two excellent ways.

1)  You can pose as a customer, or

2)  You can have someone play that role on your behalf—this is known as mystery shopping

Keeping ’Em

It’s far easier, and much more cost-effective, to keep the customers you have rather than trying to attract new ones. It’s also much more profitable.

In other words, fix your leaky bucket rather than constantly add more water.

Selling more goods and services to customers you already know (and who know you) is far easier than constantly making first-time sales.

Think about it. Who would you rather call: a customer who you know will probably buy, or someone you’ve never met, to whom you’ll have to explain your product or service and convince them it’s got value and that you are a trustworthy and reputable business?

Ninety-nine entrepreneurs out of a hundred will pick the first choice. It’s easier, and there’s a greater likelihood for a positive outcome: a sale!

Your existing customers find value in what you offer, and they trust you. That’s why they’re your customers.

Building trust and rapport is the constant hurdle in cold-calling and prospecting. Nearly every new customer is distrusting at the beginning of a sales cycle.

Evaluate yourself as a consumer. When dealing with a new vendor, do you immediately trust the person/business? Probably not, unless they’re a referral or have a long list of rock-solid testimonials. Even then, you may not trust them until you’ve verified the information for yourself. Your prospects are no different. Why should they be?

The first four of those obstacles are difficult enough to overcome. Why burden your efforts by having to clear the trust hurdle as well? With your existing customers, you don’t have to. You’ve already established trust and rapport.

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, how do you compete? How can you get more customers so you can increase your profits? Whatever marketing method or methods you use, it takes a lot of time, energy, and resources.

Maybe you’ve got sales representatives pounding the pavement and touting your products or services. If so, you know the expenses involved: commissions, benefits, mileage reports, quotas, training, and the list goes on.

Even if you opt for networking to spread the message about your company, you’ve still got to make a time investment, and, as an entrepreneur, you know that time really is money. How can you compete? How can you get customers?

Even if you’ve got the best marketing campaign in place and the most successful sales staff, you’ve got to track every effort to determine what’s working and what’s not. Failing to measure results is one of the quickest roads to business failure. How can you possibly know where to invest your efforts and resources without knowing what’s working and what’s not? If you’re guessing, you might as well throw your hard-earned money into the wind and hope for the best.

There’s no question about it—getting new customers has always been tough business, and in this current difficult economy, it’s even more so! Getting ’em is very tough.

Is there a better way to grow your business?

I’m glad you asked. There is.

As an entrepreneur, you know just how difficult it can be to get new customers, so once you get them, you want to be sure to keep them…to be sure they “stick” around.