It never ceases to amaze me how hard business owners work to gain a customer only to foolishly drive that customer away by treating them poorly.

There’s an age-old marketing principle that most of us can quote like it was Holy scripture or something -

It is much easier to get existing customers to spend more
money with you than it is to go find new customers.

That is a fact. It is an undisputed fact.

However — and this is a HUGE “however” — this principle ONLY applies IF you keep your customer satisfied.

Many internet marketers approach customer acquisition like a playboy on the dating scene. They arrive with poetic words, a dozen roses and a gentlemanly etiquette in wooing their prospects. And the moment they get a sale, they begin treating the customer like yesterday’s news while they sweet talk the next prospect in line.

One of the things that has always puzzled me is how existing customers are penalized for their loyalty.

Let me give you an example -

Several years ago we had all of our insurance through Geico. We were loyal customers for MANY years. We never had a driving ticket of any kind. No claims on our homeowner’s policy. We paid in faithfully and never got one dime back.

Then, the notice came that our rate was going up substantially. We called to inquire and were told some insignificant reasons as to why our region of the country was required to pay an increase. Fair enough. But, here’s the kicker. They told us something like this…

If you were a NEW customer, we could give you a 25% discount.

So, you’d treat a customer you have no relationship with better than a loyal customer? You’re going to charge me more because I’ve been faithfully paying you for all these years and never filing any claims? You’re going to give a stranger a better rate than a customer who’s been doing business with you for years with a perfect track record.

We cancelled our policy and went with a different company. That was 8 years ago. Periodically, I like to contact Geico and remind them of all the money they’ve been missing out on (and will continue to miss out on!) because they penalized us for being loyal and quality customers.

This kind of behavior has never made sense to me.

Here’s the principle I want to pass on to you today -

It’s important - if not required - that you REWARD your
customers and not PENALIZE them for their loyalty.

You see, we do a strange thing in internet marketing … and, admittedly, I find myself falling into this category at times … we devote a great deal of our energy towards generating traffic to our sites and building our lists. In other words, we spend so much time and money into getting new prospects and customers and so little time taking care of the ones we already have.

That is a stupid, stupid practice.

As internet marketers we are always looking for an edge. We’re looking for ways to increase our traffic and then ways to increase our conversion rate so more of that traffic buys something from us. We’re looking for ways to build our lists and then ways to get more of our subscribers to spend money with us.

We’re looking for ways to PROFIT.

And there’s a wonderful opportunity for profit-making right in front of our eyes: just take care of the customer!

Yet, many people couldn’t care less about this. In fact, if you’re “disappointed” that this article “A Lesson In Profit-Making” isn’t about some secret tactic or new technique for making money … you’re probably one of those people.

This is something that has bothered me for years, but I’ve decided to say something about it now because of an email that I received earlier today.

I received an email today from 2Checkout.com with a similar bit of nonsense. Despite the fact that I’ve given them over $16,000 in processing fees during the past year or so, they’d like me to change the way I operate my business just so they can earn an extra $49. Seriously. And it really irritated me. It irritated me so much that I’m thinking about looking for other options for my order-processing. And because they want an extra $49 from me, they’ll likely lose $16,000+ during the next 12 months alone.

There’s something just not RIGHT about this kind of treatment of customers and it’s just not SMART either.

Like I said, this is something that has bothered me for years, which is why I’ve always tried to overdeliver and maintain accessibility to my customers. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect and I make mistakes just like anyone else does.

But I learned a long time ago when I worked at Kinko’s, “Our primary objective is to take care of the customer”.

Those who do will increase their profit. Guaranteed. Those who don’t will sooner or later have to refer to a dictionary to be reminded of what “profit” means.

A few weeks ago I sent out an email for a “Subscriber Special” in which I offered a discounted price on a product of mine, along with a free copy of an “off-the-market” course I’ve authored and a special coaching segment. I included a simple P.S. that read…

“P.S. If you have ALREADY ordered this course, please forward me a copy of your receipt and I’ll make sure you get the same bonuses!”

Why do this? Why give away free stuff to those who have already paid?

Because that’s the point: they’ve already paid. They ARE customers. And don’t they deserve the same — even more — than those who are NOT customers yet?

Listen to me carefully -

If you want to increase your profit, bend over
backwards to REWARD your customers!

 

• If you offer special bonuses or incentives, give them to your existing customers as well as new ones.
• Send out unadvertised bonuses of real value to those who buy from you.
• Host “customer appreciation” events like teleseminars where you don’t try to sell anything, just give content.
• Answer customer emails FIRST … and always within 24-48 hours.
• Offer automatic discounts for repeat purchases.
• Let customers know important news and information before others.

If there is any advantage to be gained, give it to your customers.

Take care of your customers and they’ll take care of you.

And that is indeed “A Lesson In Profit-Making”.