THE CARE AND KEEPING OF CUSTOMERS

The first question of any business is to understand WHAT
business you are in.
Most people think McDonald's is in the restaurant or
hamburger business, but many analysts through the years have
observed that they are actually in a variety of businesses.
They are in the real estate development business. They are
in the entertainment business. And most of all, they are in
the customer service business.
Every business is first, last, and always in the business of
providing superior service to its customers.
It costs a fortune to attract a new customer. The time,
money, energy, anxiety and effort to get a new first-time
customer in the door is a huge expense. No business has the
resources to attract and serve only new customers. The key
to profits is in keeping and serving the customers you
already have.
Some studies show that it costs up to 85 times more money to
get a new customer than to make an additional sale to an
existing customer.
No matter what other business you are in, your first
business is in keeping and serving and partnering with your
customers. It's called customer retention. Sometimes it's
called "up-selling." It goes by many names, but the
principle is the same: Nurture and keep your customers!
Customer service is about reliability and it's about
relationship. It's about trust. It's about the quality of
your product, but even more, it's about the quality of your
service before, during and long after the sale.