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Posted on: December 26, 2011 - 11:56 am
by Admin

Current customers, particularly buyers who have purchased a firm’s products or services for several years, have established beliefs and feelings associated with the firm. They may know the names and personalities of leaders at the company. A relationship with some measure of trust and loyalty already exist between the customer and the firm.

Current Customers Provide Excellent Word-of-Mouth Advertisement

Existing customers require less marketing dollars to engage them in a purchase because they are familiar with a business’ services and products. This makes them excellent sources of word-of-mouth advertising. Current customers have a company’s products in their home. For example, if the business is fashion, a designer’s suits and dresses are hanging in clients’ closets.

Each time family and friends see the fashions they can ask questions including where the outfit was purchased, what the company’s service was like, and how much the outfit cost. Because friends trust friends when they recommend a product, if the feedback is positive, it could easily equal a new sale without a cent having to be spent by the fashion designer.

Business Leaders Must Find Out What Customers Want

Companies create customer loyalty when they deliver more than what they promise and when they maintain regular contact with their customers. An effective way to do this is to offer customers the opportunity to sign up to receive a free monthly newsletter.

Firm’s can survey and monitor customer satisfaction by mailing quick and easy electronic surveys to everyone who purchased one of their products in the last year. To save postage, firm’s can also drop a short one-page survey inside each sales bag.

Prompt and Courteous Customer Service

Cashiers, call center clerks and customer service representatives are a company’s first impression makers. They are the people that customers will keep in frequent contact with. The New South Wales Government Department of Commerce reports that customer service is key to a business’ success.