Tip #2 in this series involves customer appreciation. The tip for the day is to “Thank your existing customers (both past and present) for their business.”

This seems like such a simple concept, yet is one that is often overlooked. I don’t mean the cursory “Thank you and come back and see us again.” I mean a real hearty “Thank You!”

There are many ways to do this. But what it’s really about is showing your customers exceptional customer care in a way that sets you apart from your competition.

Here are just a few tips that work in every business.

1. If you have the opportunity, look your customers right in the eye and sincerely telling them that you appreciate their business.  Don’t overdo it, because then it gets a little uncomfortable. Just be sincere. I can’t tell you how many end clients I have worked with over the years that told me “wow, nobody has ever sincerely thanked me for my business before. I spend a lot of money with xyz company, and they have never once told me thank you, or that they really appreciate my business, but they expected (past tense) me to keep giving it to them each month.” A sincere “thank you” to a loyal customer (or even a new one) might just be the difference that keeps that piece of business for you.

2. Mail them a handwritten “Thank You” card. Quality companies do this regularly. Even if you are just thanking them for the appointment time that you spent with them, this sends a message. It says that you appreciate the time that they took to meet with you. Hopefully, it says that you appreciate the order that they gave you. Small details like this mean a lot to people, but don’t cost a lot. It’s because they are uncommon in today’s society.

3. Stay in touch with previous customers. Give them a quick call, just to say hello, or find out how their purchase (that you sold them) is working out. Even if it’s not good news, this gives you the opportunity to do some public relations and turn a sour experience into a positive one. One quick example. I worked for a company once that had exactly this experience. It’s not that we made a mistake or that the product didn’t perform exactly as planned. It’s howwe correct the mistakes or handle the situation. We handled our situation well, and mobilized the appropriate people immediately to solve the problem and actually exceeded the customer’s expectations. They turned around and gave us another order because of the way we handled the problem. Had we not called, we may not have ever known there was a problem, and we definitely would not have gotten the additional order. Remember, 90% of dissatisfied clients will not voluntarily tell you there is a problem, but they will tell somebody else not to use you. Always stay in touch with your past customers. Especially important: never miss the opportunity to ask for the referral to another person that might use your products or services, which brings me to the last point.

4. Customer referrals should be your #1 source of new business opportunities for your business. That means you need to have a mechanism to ask for those referrals. That mechanism may be different for different businesses. Most businesses will want to implement some sort of reward program for their clients that refer new clients to them.

To summarize this tip: Work your past, present and even the new customers for new opportunities. But do it from a place of sincerity with the intent of truly desiring to help your clients and their friends.

I’ll leave you with this one thought.  “Exceed your customer’s expectations on every order, and you will probably have a loyal customer for life.”  Don’t be ordinary and take the easy way out.  Do the uncommon and set yourself apart from the crowd.  You will be successful.  Profitable is a different story for another time.