by Susan Durbin Panker

Created on: April 22, 2009   Last Updated: April 24, 2009

It starts by face to face personal relationship building. It starts by knowing how your customers think. Asking questions and listening to them will enable you to understand how they feel when they are purchasing a service or product from you. Today's customer is savvier and will be able to detect insincerity the moment it leaves your lips. No one likes a phony. They will hear it in your voice. They will see it in your body language. They will listen to their "6th sense" or gut instinct. This is emotion. If you want to build a strong, loyal customer base and keep it you must tap into their emotions by making their decision to buy from you the best experience they have ever had in their lives. Aim high. Make their experience so fantastic and out of the norm that they will want to come back and experience it over and over again.

Today's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs help with the organization of data. They are like a modern day Rolodex/index card system. However, memorizing these facts is up to you. When you are talking with your customer in person, it is essential to your credibility to know your facts. The great Harvey Mackay wrote about this in his best selling book, "Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive". Memorization is a skill and top salespeople have this ability. There is nothing more disheartening than listening to salespeople recite information from a computer screen.

One of the customer retention ideas promoted by companies today is to send birthday cards or holiday cards to all their customers. Which one means more, the handwritten note with the stamp or the mass produced card stamped by the company postal machine? The hand written one takes time and effort. The other one screams loud and clear that you are just one of many and you aren't worth the extra time.

Cultivating a loyal customer base means spending the time and energy getting to know them and how they think. Why do you suppose important business decisions are made while playing golf? Establishing personal relationships and continuously nurturing these relationships is a key to loyalty. Find out what your customers like to do in their spare time and do it with them. Remember, all of your efforts have to be genuine. There was a commercial a few years back that showed a board room of executives getting ready for a tense meeting about how they could save their customers. The chairman stood up before the meeting started and handed out plane tickets to everyone. He told

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