CHAPTER 15

BUILDING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS

Who is more likely to buy from you? An existing customer? Or a passer-by on the street who has never heard of you, your business or your product? The answer to this is pretty obvious. An existing customer is many more times likely to buy.

For a business to be secure and to produce high-quality long-term earnings (and provide you with a good, steady income), it needs to focus on retaining its customers. It also suggests that this should be part of your initial strategic thinking. A business that relies on one-off purchases is building a steeper cliff to climb than a business that targets a group of customers and develops products that can be sold more than once and has much spin-off potential.

Clearly, ...

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