The Boss of You

By now most of us know the “it costs more to get a new client than to keep an existing one” bit of business savvy, but one of the other customer satisfaction rules we follow in our own business is rewarding existing clients who send you new ones. We’ve never taken out an ad for our business and have been very blessed to rely solely on client referrals for almost all of our business pver six years (a small percentage find us through web searches). When we know how a client found out about us, ie/ who referred them, we always send that person some kind of thank you, typically in the form of flowers. Since they’ve already sent the work our way, some may say that’s overkill but we feel otherwise. We are so very grateful to our clients for helping us grow our business and for being willing to send us the work in the first place that a heartfelt thank you comes very easily indeed.

I’m reminded of this today because a firm that we regularly refer our clients to sent me a very unexpected thank you in the mail today, for referring a client their way. As I say, we’ve referred folks there in the past, and always happily because not only do they offer a decent product but their customer service has (in my experience) always been really excellent. When I have a question I know who to phone, she always follows up, and she always gives me an honest answer, even if it isn’t one that I like. What was great about the thank you I received today was not just that they sent me a gift, but that they took the time to thank me. The thank you card included information as to which referral they are rewarding me for, as well as some happy text about their appreciation. I was always happy to refer folks their way in the past, but I admit they’ll now remain very top of mind, and in a business where you need a way to set yourself apart from competition I think this is much more effective than any hokey ad campaign.