Keeping your customers happy, how this is part of marketing

When it comes to marketing many of us think of advertisements and other marketing techniques but what many of us do not think about is our customers. Perhaps you are wondering what our customers have to do with marketing or how keeping our customers happy is a part of our marketing. If you are wondering about this I want you to take a minute and think about how important your customers are to your business and what kind of a role your customers play. For most of you the customers are going to play an important role in your business because without customers your business would not be successful. But not only are the customers a big part of your business, but the customers have a huge role in what kind of marketing your company is going to use. Basically when you are designing your marketing strategy you are thinking about the best way to keep your customers happy so that they keep coming back and you are also trying to draw in more customers.

Here are some marketing ideas you can try to help keep your customers happy.

Tip one:
Create business cards that your customers will keep. Traditional business cards tend to get thrown out the minute people leave the store or clean out their wallets because they are tiny pieces of paper that are just taking up room. Rather than handing out business cards you can create notepads that have your business information on them, magnets, pens, and a variety of other items that can be used by the customer. The more useful the business cards are the longer the customers are likely to keep them, hence getting you many days of exposure.

Tip two:
Stop paying attention to your unprofitable customers. While this might seem like a strange idea you are really not losing any business. Your profits are generally made by a core group of customers and by pouring the majority of your time and energy into maintaining and nurturing those relationships you are far more likely to boost your profits.

Tip three:
Provide something to help the customer stay at your place of business longer. For example IKEA and other malls provide free child care or low cost child care so that parents can spend a longer amount of time finding what they want without having to worry about kids. If you have a business online you can offer customers certain incentives to return again such as free shipping for return customers, discounts, etc. What you are trying to do here is get your customers to come back and spend their money at your place of business.

Tip four:
Send out newsletters through both email and regular mail. In these newsletters be sure to include stuff that your clients will be interested in. You should include your current promotions, tips on using your products or services, and be sure to personalize the newsletter by giving your customer something special, like a certain percent off their next purchase or a free gift with their next purchase.

Tip five:
Make your customers feel special. With our busy life style and wanting to get the lowest prices personalized customer service has gone the way of the high road. But the thing is customers still want to be recognized. By taking a little bit of time and possibly spending a few extra pennies you can make your customers feel special. This is a simple task to complete, for example you can send them a personal thank you note or enclose a small gift in with their purchase.