Well, what if I told you that your customers could be saying the same thing about your business if you apply the marketing lessons that you're about to learn here? Oh yeah, it's true. I'm as serious as that eviction notice taped to your neighbor's door!

It doesn't matter what kind of business you're in, customers are your bread and butter and you'd better remember to always treat them with service so excellent that they become your very own marching army of word-of-mouth fans who just can't stop talking about your stellar services even if you paid them not to.

Close your eyes for a second.

Now, pick a business; florist, printing shop, bakery, or an internet access café. It really doesn't matter because what I'm about to tell you is applicable to every business you can imagine.

Here's a little secret: If any business expects to keep its' doors open, they must have a solid marketing plan to get, keep, and grow customers.

And if a customer slips through the cracks, then it is to your financial advantage to figure out how to get that customer back.

Do you remember how you stayed up all night thinking about all the things you can do to win back the heart of your lost love right after a romantic break-up? The red roses delivered to her job?

The "I'm sorry, please forgive me?", card you mailed to him? Do you remember how much thought and planning you put into winning back that relationship?

Well, in case you missed the memo...guess what? You are in a relationship with your customers whether you know it or not.

And if you want to stay in business it is of paramount importance for you to take this same level of relentless and dogged approach.

Why? Because when it comes down to it, getting your lost customers to come back, once they have "broken-up" with you, will cost you far less money than to acquire a new customer. This is widely referred to as customer win-back.

Customer win-back is a business term that's all too familiar in many of the large industries, namely, long-distance phone companies and credit card services in which direct marketing practices such as carefully segmenting ex-customers into control groups and test cells are repeatedly conducted.

The goal is to send out new marketing offers in order to increase the customer win-back ratio, or to lower the win-back cost.

Did you know that in far too many businesses, customers leave in truck-loads every single day without so much as an exit interview?

Furthermore, there is no understanding as to why they left and even worse, no effort whatsoever is launched to keep them or to win them back.

What many businesses don't know and ought to know is that to acquire a single new customer to replace the old one you let get away without a fight can cost you anywhere from $10 to as much as $400.

This figure can sometimes be higher, yet there exists businesses that make the costly mistake of not allocating a budget to specifically spend money to go after their lost customers and bring them back into the fold. This would be more economical than marketing to a brand new customer.

Unfortunately, businesses are not looking at their numbers when it comes to customer retention and loyalty.

They're too busy throwing their money into getting new customers, thus, failing to see that the real problem is in their lack of a customer retention system and customer win-back program.

If you, as a small business owner, can see the importance and value of your customer database then you've won half the battle and are well on your way to building a solidly, successful, and thriving business for a long, long, time to come.

Stay tuned for upcoming articles on tips to maintaining customer relationships!