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Your Customers


© Bert Markgraf

Nov 4, 1997


Once you've been in business for a little while, you will have a pool of existing or past customers. I've said before that this pool is one of your biggest assets and one way of using this asset is to find out more about these customers, their experience with you, and what they think.

The reasons for doing this is are several:

  • Your customers have already bought from you; you want more people like them
  • Your customers know how you did; you need to know this too.
  • Your customers know what you do well; you need to know this to improve.
  • Your customers have probably bought from your competition; they can compare and tell you.
  • Your customers will buy from you again if they think you are constantly improving.

    Finding out about your customers should be an ongoing activity. Follow up with customers who have made major purchases, include questionnaires with bills, make a point of personally speaking with some of your customers from time to time and make sure complaints are handled well. But even if all this is being done, there will be gaps. Even small businesses that have the intention of carrying out all these activities will occasionally fall behind with their customer information.

    One way to update your files is to send out a questionnaire to all your customers, or at least to your best customers. An example of such a questionnaire can be found here. Note how it deals with your services, the customer's work, the customer's satisfaction with your company and a comparison with other companies. To increase the response rate, you will probably have to offer a discount or other small gift but, once the information is in, you can target your existing customers for new business and you will have a much clearer idea where your new customers are likely to come from.

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    The copyright of the article Your Customers in Small Business is owned by . Permission to republish Your Customers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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