How many customers did you lose today?

Would you know if some of your customers stopped buying from you? What would that mean to your business?

Everyday we have the opportunity to build on the perceptions our customers have about our businesses.  Whether they be good or bad, every encounter a customers has with your business adds to their overall opinion of the company.

Did your advertising promise something that you didn’t deliver?
Was it hard to find your location?
Was the store a mess?
How did the customer feel when they left?

Every interaction you have with a customer, whether it be in person or when they view your ads, web site or try to find a parking space, determines your future with this customer.

When was the last time you walked through all of the steps your customer takes and look at things from her perspective?  Probably never.

We tend to get caught up in the day-to-day fires and forget that our business exists for one reason…to create and keep customers.

Is 2009 going to be a great year?

The thing I love most about marketing is that it is mostly common sense.  If you simply take the time to really understand your customers, your competitors and your own true capabilities, growing your business is simple.  Now please note I didn’t say easy.  Simple things are not always easy, and growing a business is not easy.

Think of growth this way – your business exists for one reason – to create customers. So with that in mind everything you do in your business is marketing.  The start of a new year is a great opportunity to take a look around and see where you can improve things.

Take a serious look at your customers; what’s changed – what’s going to change?  Look at your competitors, what opportunities in the market are they trying to own?  What can you own? Do you have the time, money and skill to do it?