Todd Holder rings up our soaps and lotions. Photo by Becky McCray.

Successful small businesses depend on customers who return.

Such customers form your core audience. They buy regularly and as research notes, they buy more than the more casual customer or the one-time customer. Yes, their regular purchase may be less but, over time, they are your stars.

Second, your returning customers are most likely be your ambassadors. They spread the word about you, your business, and the goods and services you offer. Such voluntary endorsements are some of the greatest marketing you can have. It is trusted and relied upon even though we may not know the people providing the comments.

So how can you develop such a relationship with your customers?

It obviously begins with offering products and services that customers want and doing do at a reasonable price. Notice I don’t say it must be the cheapest price, just reasonable. Customers will pay more for quality and service.

A good deal and good service are very important but there are other aspects of the customer-relation process that will encourage someone to return.

Customers appreciate it when you know them by name and when you know what they like. I have a favorite coffee shop where, unless I tell them otherwise, they know my drink of choice.

One think that upsets your long-standing customer is if they feel you just “nickel and dime” them to death. Set your price and avoid the add-ons. If something small comes up that would be a small additional charge, it may be in your best interest to forego it. This is a fine line as you also can give away the business if you aren’t careful.

These customers are also ones who you can encourage with customer loyalty programs.

Finally, remember that every employee in your organization plays a role in developing these customers. You can do everything perfect but one staff member can tear it all down quickly.

Valued customers are key to your small-business success. Take the time and the steps you develop these ambassadors of your business.

My local pharmacy delivers every day.. Photo of Holder Drug by Becky McCray.

Your customers are your business. Connecting with them means success or failure.

How well does your business do in terms of connecting? You won’t find many answers in this column, but you will find lots of questions you need to think about.

How do you connect with your customers?

I suspect many of you have a phone at your business. Do you publish the number? I know businesses that don’t.

And when you or one of your employees answers the phone, what do you say? What is your tone of voice? Do you ask what the person is calling about?

How long does the phone ring before someone answers? And how quickly are transfers made? What about phone messages? How quickly are they returned? Think in terms of hours, not days.

Then you have the people who walk into your store. Are they greeted, and if so, how? How long are they in the store before the greeting occurs? And how many employees might they pass before someone asks if they need some help?

How about when people leave: Are they thanked for stopping? Do you encourage them to come back again or ask if they found what they wanted? Do you go as far as suggesting where they might find what they are looking for? (I am reminded of that each Christmas season when watching “Miracle on 34th Street.”)

Today you also have to think about how you are connecting online with your customer.

I won’t even ask if you have a website but instead ask how easily people can find your business contact information on your website. Make it visible and on every page. What about a comment/question box right on the website?

Besides the standard information on your website, offer email addresses, driving directions and maps.

Remember that your online audience probably isn’t who you think it is. You may assume it is the “younger” generation. It is, and that group rapidly is becoming the largest spending segment. But every age group is doing online activities, with those 60 and older the fastest growing segment.

In terms of email, how quickly do you respond? You should be responding in no more than four hours.

Finally, don’t forget the online social media channels. You have two issues here. In the first scenario, your business doesn’t have any social media channels. While I might encourage a business to have a channel, you certainly have reasons – time being a big one – for not having such an online presence.

Even if you don’t have a channel, that doesn’t mean your business isn’t being mentioned in social media. So you want to be there to answer questions, thank those who offer positive remarks and respond to negative criticism.

And while you are reviewing what is being said about your business on social media, don’t forget to monitor online review sites for comments as well.

If you do maintain one or more social media channels, the preferred response time is an hour or less in most cases.

Connecting with your customers is crucial. To do it well, remember all the options, practice and train on the methods, and ask your customers how you are doing.

Photo (CC) by Ninlan Reid, on Flickr

If you’re a business owner, which appeals more: spending $20 to capture a new customer or spending $1 to retain an existing customer?

These numbers represent broad averages but reflect reality, according to research. This means developing a sustainable business requires focusing first on building customer loyalty.

Every business needs to build its customer base, but often the focus is on bringing in new customers. Perhaps the better strategy is, first, retaining existing customers because this forms a stable sales base and they become your ambassadors as you turn to finding new customers.

Retaining existing customers means providing them with what they want at a price they feel is reasonable while offering them a pleasant shopping experience, and giving outstanding customer service and support.

To do all of this means listening to your customer.

However, one difficulty business owners face is that customers will not rate each one of these items equally, and each customer will have his or her own preferences.

Understanding the customer and his or her preferences means coming up with a business strategy that will work best for your situation. To some degree, that means building around where the core of your customer base puts its values.

Yet understand that with the tools available, it is possible to have customized approaches to various groups or even individuals.

The goal is customer retention. Yes, customer retention or customer loyalty programs may have a cost, but based on the research, these programs seem like a good way to spend your money. That’s especially true when research shows that long-term customers tend to buy more and more often than new customers. So you want to keep your customers and keep them as long as possible.

Customer retention programs are not a one-time effort. Internally, the customer changes, and externally, the surrounding environment (think competition) changes. As the customers have various experiences, they will come across other business tools that they prefer. They may move, for example, from valuing price savings to valuing service.

Help your customers see how they get value from your relationship. Encourage them to tell you their ideas and thoughts for change. And then take action on what they say.

Retaining customers can have a great payoff. Making customer retention a mission of your company is well worth your time and effort.