Wouldn’t you rather buy a car or have a suit tailored or purchase life insurance from someone you’ve worked well with before? Someone you know and like and trust?

Sure you would. And so would every other consumer. That’s why it’s so important to build positive relationships with your prospects and customers.

It’s what we’ve emphasized for years: investing your time and effort and money to strengthen and deepen your existing business relationships, rather than risking seven times as much on a constant hunt for new sources of revenue.

Building customer share – rather than focusing on growing market share – can be far more profitable, less stressful and, in the long run, better for your reputation and brand, because happy, long-term customers are your best form of marketing.

Here’s another benefit: people will often pay more to buy from or work with companies that treat them well and re-earn their trust with every encounter. Wouldn’t you pay 5 or 10 dollars more for a meal if you knew you were practically guaranteed a wonderful dining experience, if the staff went out of their way to treat you like family every time you walked in and, just as importantly, if you were confident nothing was going to go wrong?

How are you investing to prevent unexpected problems for your customers?

What are you doing to ensure that every time they call or visit your website or walk through your door that they’re being served well by your people and processes?

Do your employees know – and believe – that every contact they have with a current or future customer is a chance to strengthen your brand…and build that company that people know and like and trust?