Quietly, over the last few months, we rolled out something in my company that has been a startling success.
It's something you can easily duplicate at zero cost.
It's an idea that came to me in a moment of inspiration, and which I implemented without hesitation.
What was it? Some new marketing method? A sneaky ninja plug-in that increases sales? Some sort of “covert persuasion” tactic?
None of the above.
It's what we are calling our “No Customer Left Behind” program.
You see, I was reviewing our customer records one day, and realized we had over 1,000 paying customers in our database. And those are just people who have bought products and services online; that does not include all of the customers who bought products from me at a seminar or workshop.
As I was looking through the names, it occurred to me that I had not heard from many of these folks in quite some time. And then, it occurred to me that they had not heard from me, either. Whoops.
Right then and there, the idea struck me for our new program. It's really simple: each week, we now host a “customer Q&A” phone call. I get on the phone, and any of our existing customers are free to call into the conference line, and ask any question they have.
I thought this would be something good to do for our customers and clients. I knew that many of them would appreciate it. What I did not realize was how much it would mean to so many.
Has it resulted in new business for my company? Absolutely. But that was an unexpected benefit. A surprise. In retrospect, I understand how it happened, but it wasn't part of the original plan.
The lesson: if you take care of your customers above and beyond what they expect, they will take care of you in like manner.
Question for you: how do you stay in contact with, and take care of, your existing and previous customers?