Whether marketing is high on your agenda or not, there’s no excuse for even the smallest business to skip such a crucial part of a company’s operations. Here’s my top tips to keep your customers coming back for more…

1. Talk to them
Find out how your customers feel about you. The Net Promoter Score is a great way to measure customer satisfaction. Also, make sure they’re up-to-date on what other products or services you can offer them

2. Take a walk in their shoes
Most business owners have never tried out their business. Try to experience what a customer would by paying attention to things like first impressions and how easy it is to use your website

3. Be brilliant at handling complaints
Complaints are a great opportunity to prove just how good you are and how you differ from the competition. Be quick, efficient and polite and if possible have a dedicated person to deal with complaints

4. Make it easy for them to find you
Plaster your website and literature with contact details – phone numbers, website address, text messaging, social networking sites, whatever dovetails with your strategy

5. Listen to what they’re saying – to others
People rarely complain to you, instead they prefer to tell everyone else. Check web forums and chat rooms to find out what they’re saying and consider having your own forums, on your website, where people can discuss and rate you

6. Invest in technology
Keeping track of your customers can be made easy with the right system. It can help you store basic contact and purchase information as well as forecasting future purchases and making specific offers to each and every client

7. Incentivise your staff
John Lewis has a great partnership structure where all staff share in its profits, resulting in extremely high quality customer service and loyalty. Visit www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk for more info

8. …and keep them well informed
We’ve all had the waitress who doesn’t know the “daily specials” or the store assistant who can barely tell the difference between an Apple Mac and a PC. Keep your staff up-to-date with internal bulletins and regular training. The more they know, the more they’ll sell.