Customer retention is vital to a business. If you cannot retain your customers you will be continually losing current customers and always on the search for new ones. This can be very expensive. Retaining current customers means continual sales which is essential to keep your business afloat. Here are some keys to keeping your customers that can be learned from looking at the Dish Network business model.

1) Have a Product or Service that Appeals to your Customer. This may seem like common sense but it is important to have a quality product or service. If it lacks quality or proves to be useless to the customer, they will not be returning to your business anytime soon. Make sure that it is something that your target customer needs and not just something you think they might need. Do your market research. You need to be solving a problem for your customer with your product or service.

Dish Network keeps their customers by giving them something that will change the way they watch television forever. After you have experienced satellite TV, it is hard to go back to the way things use to be. Dish Network sells a product and service that satisfies a customer need and keeps them coming back for more.

2) Continue to Improve Your Product or Service. Never be satisfied with where you stand with your product or service. The market is always changing and active and the needs of a customer are always shifting. Once again, do your research. See who your competitors are and what they are offering. Are there any substitute products that would be more appealing to the customer? Keep up with what is going on in the market.

Dish Network is always changing channel packages and technology to appeal to their customers. Not too long ago Dish Network added Bridges TV to their Dish Network package. Bridges TV is the American Muslim lifestyle Network. Bridges TV will accommodate to the needs of a seven million and growing American Muslim population. Besides the recent adding of Bridges TV, Dish Network has recently added several original Voom channels to their programming, giving Dish Network the best HD channel package in the nation. Along with this, DISH Network has announced that they will be adding Home Plug 1.0 technology so that one connection can serve multiple receivers. This new technology will also allow satellite radio to be used throughout a house. Dish Network always remains on top of what is happening in the market.

You must aim to be at the top of the market and to provide the newest and the best products and services. Getting behind can give a reason for your current customers to switch.

3) Provide Excellent Customer Service and Satisfaction. Customers are likely to stay with businesses that they like and that treat them well. Customer service should be a high priority in a business.

Dish Network has always placed a high importance on their customer service. In result, they have ranked the highest out of all satellite and cable tv companies for the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) for the second year in a row in addition to their #1 ranking for Customer Satisfaction for cable/satellite providers in the JD Power and Associates. These rankings have definitely been an asset to the Dish Network and not only mean that they can retain customers but they also can attract new customers.

The lesson to learn hear is there is no such thing as too much emphasis on customer satisfaction. Making your customers happy always pays off. This will not only retain customers but will attract new customers.

By following Dish Network's system of quality products and service, continual improvement, and emphasis on customer satisfaction you will be able to retain your customers. By keeping your current customers, you will not have to use all your resources trying to replenish you clientele and allows you to focus on gaining more customers and growing the business instead. Satisfied, frequent customers will help you become profitable.