Almost nothing matters more than earning and keeping customer loyalty. Customers can be fickle. They don't have to keep coming back, and in today's economy, they're likely to be wooed by more competing businesses all the time. One expert estimates that businesses lose as much as 20 percent of their customers every year. There's no single surefire way to guarantee loyalty, but here are some tips to help you run the sort of business people will want to come back to.

1. Offer one stop service. Does your customer have to go somewhere else before or after dealing with you? If you sell flowers, give customers a chance to buy the vase to put them in. If you sell posters, offer to frame them as well. Whatever it is you do, think of ways you can make it a package deal. 

2. Know the customer's needs. Is the picnic table you're selling to be used in a covered patio or sun room or is it to be outdoors, exposed to the elements? Is the vacuum cleaner to be used in rooms with pet hairs or just with ordinary dust. These things make a difference. Find out how your customer plans to use what you're offering and make suggestions that will help them make the best choice for their needs. This leaves the customer feeling important. Plus it leaves the impression that you know your business and are trying to do your best. 

3. Offer choices. Can you offer your product in different colors, materials, etc.? If you sell handmade furniture, there may be woods you prefer to work with, but you'll build a larger customer base if you can work with different types of woods and finishes. Even flea market booths and garage sales do better when they offer more items to choose from. Look into what your suppliers are already offering. Don't spread yourself too thin but consider ways to expand your inventory with minimal effort.

4. Be the one they can depend on. If you have a choice between getting a good night's sleep and filling an important order for a customer, give the customer priority. Your customer may be leaving on a trip or planning a wedding or going to a trade show. Find out when the customer needs something for a particular day and be sure to have it on time or sooner. If you're slow to deliver, you make somebody else look bad and nothing destroys loyalty faster. Make your customers look good and you'll look good, too. Along with this, if you aren't sure you can finish the job or deliver the goods when needed, make that very clear at the onset. If your machines are giving you trouble and likely to break down, say so, and get busy getting them fixed. Or take the order to a competitor whose machines are in good shape.

5. Make good your mistakes. Mistakes can kill a business when they occur too often or when you don't handle them correctly. It's important to be able to admit when something goes wrong. Don't try to find someone else to blame and don't accuse the customer. Your focus should be on rectifying the mistake. Fix the product or replace it, do the job over, do what needs to be done. Standing behind your work goes a long way toward building customer loyalty.

6. Anticipate problems. Know your business well enough to be aware of what could go wrong and take steps ahead of time to prevent problems. If you have valuable items belonging to your customer in our shop for repair, be sure to carry enough insurance to cover them. If your equipment is old and could break down in the middle of a job, find out in advance where to rent or buy another machine in a hurry. Be prepared for events that are likely and could cause problems. Also be prepared for events that are unlikely but could cause big problems.

7. Honesty is the best policy. Never even allow the illusion that you're overcharging someone. Explain how long it took to do the job. Itemize the expenses involved. If there's a disagreement and there's a ghost of a chance that the customer is right, let the customer be right. You may lose a few dollars here and there but it's better to be seen as a business person who can be trusted. 

8. Make it a pleasure to do business with you. The repair shop with an air conditioner and comfortable chairs will probably have more return business than one with sweltering temperatures and no place to sit. Plants and pictures make people feel welcome, too. If your customers deal with you on the phone, have voice mail or answering system that doesn't keep them on hold listening to music or commercial messages.

9. Time is in your favor. If your business is new, customer loyalty is something in the future. It builds over time as customers have repeated experiences dealing with you. People lose track of time; start keeping track and let them know when they've been a valued customer for five years or ten. 

Think research is just for scientists? Think again. If business people don't do research before investing their time and money in an enterprise, it may not succeed.  Many new entrepreneurs jump into businesses without even knowing why. Maybe the timing was right. Maybe they've just lost their job or can't put up with a difficult boss any longer. Often they've seen someone else succeeding at an independent business and they thought to themselves, "If they can do it, so can I."

Getting started in a business of your own requires carefully gathering information and planning. If you need to get something going right away, you just have to work that much harder and burn more midnight oil. But if you do your homework, you'll probably save money in the long run. You'll avoid going into a business that is wrong for your locale or overlooking problems that could wreck a business that's otherwise right. 1. Know where the money is coming from. You can't quit your job on Friday, start a new enterprise on Monday and hope to have money in your pocket by date that would have been your payday. Before you tell the boss good-bye, make sure you have enough money in your savings account to tide you over.

If you need a partner to help you get going, investigate that. Don't take on someone just because they have money to contribute. You need to be able to work together through good times and bad.

Also, be sure your credit is intact so that you can tap a low-interest loan or cash advance, in case you need it. Did you father-in-law promise to bankroll you and you want to take him up on it? There are often strings attached to family loans. If you decide to take advantage of such an offer, treat is just as you would a loan from another source. Draw up a contract and vow to make payments regularly.

2. Know your market. Will you sell locally or by mail order and/or the Internet to a wider range of customers. Ask yourself, who are these people and how can I reach them? What are their ages, sex, occupation and income? If you're looking for business people between the ages of 40 and 65, you'll conduct your business differently than if you are targeting mothers of young children. 

When you know who your customers are going to be, talk to some of them personally. Ask them if they have a need for what you're offering. Ask what they're willing to pay for your product or service. Find out, too, where they're getting the product or service now. What, if anything are they dissatisfied with? This is market research, and big companies spend big bucks on it. You can do the same thing just by getting out and chatting with folks you already know.

Note: Many successful entrepreneurs started a business after they weren't able to find a certain product in their communities. The old adage, find a need and fill it, still holds.

3. Know what's going to make them want to buy from you. These days you have to do more than build a better mousetrap. You need to promote what's unique about your product or service, and let the right people know that you're there.

Advertising can be expensive, but you can take advantage of methods that cost very little: print up business cards, go to meetings of business organizations, post flyers on bulletin boards, post messages at forums on the Internet. Be resourceful. If you have something interesting and worthwhile, people will listen.

4. Look for pitfalls. There must be people in businesses similar to yours who will share what they've learned. You'll probably have better luck if you look for someone who isn't a direct competitor. Call them or arrange to be face to face at a Chamber of Commerce or other meeting of business people. Tell them simply that you are considering a business and ask if they would be willing to answer a few questions. 

If you're buying a franchise or a business that's licensed, go visit people who have had their businesses a few years and ask them questions. Try to find out if the parent company makes good on its promises. If it's a multi-level operation, you won't have any trouble getting people to talk with you but be sure to interview some in the organization who will not be profiting from your sales. Some multi-level groups encourage this type of networking.

The questions you most want to ask will have to do with money. Business people may not want to tell you how much they're making, but don't be afraid to ask other owners how long it took to start turning a profit. 

Most business people like to play the role of expert. They'll have stories with happy endings and stories without. Listen carefully. To get your business off on the right foot, you need to hear both kinds.

So you have competition. Somebody else is getting some of the revenues that could be coming your way. If you're competing against a much larger company with more resources, you have your work cut out for you. This is not the time to bury your head in the sand.

Small can be better. Small isn't always beautiful, but being small has its advantages, even in business. Small businesses can be more flexible. You can consider going in new directions or taking advantage of new developments and new technology. If you have only ten customers to please, you can move in a new direction easier than if you have to keep up with orders from thousands. If you have only a few thousand dollars invested in equipment and no full time employees, you can change your way of doing business almost overnight. 

The companies that succeed these days are ones that can experiment, innovate and get ahead of the others. You may be in a much better position to do this than your larger competitors.

1. Find what makes your business unique. Stop and think about it. Why should people come to you? Do you offer convenience to customers? Extra service? Is your product faster or nicer looking or easier to use? 

List one or more things that set your business apart from the others. Now consider which of these you want to emphasize. As your business grows larger, you won't be able to do all the little things that were easy in the beginning. For example, if you've been delivering orders to your customers but realize that this takes too much time, then you won't want to emphasize this as you grow your business. However, if you can offer gift wrapping at a nominal cost and want to go on doing it, make it one of your selling points. You need a number of unique factors or selling points, but as you list them, think ahead to when your business will be larger than it is today.

2. Write a great slogan. You may remember the "number two" car rental company that advertised, "We try harder." You probably know which credit card company talks about the privileges its members have. 

You can probably think of a few other ad slogans used in commercials and bill- boards or magazines. Large companies spend many thousands on such slogans, but people who spend time thinking about their small businesses can come up with some great ones, too. Start by thinking about what's special about your business; go back to your selling points. Note: one of the well-known slogans you've been hearing might fit your business, but don't be tempted to use it. Companies own their slogans and protect them fiercely.

3. Test your slogan. Once you have a slogan, ask other people what they think of it. Start with your family and friends; ask some of your best customers and suppliers, too. If most people like it, don't look any further. But if they don't understand it, you need to go back to the drawing board and come up with something else. A good slogan can makes people stop and think, but if it leaves prospects puzzled, you won't get any sales. 

4. Get the word out. Use your slogan everywhere you can. Post it over your door or in your shop. Print it on your stationary and in any advertising that has room for it. When it's time to place your ads, that's when you'll redesign them. You can even print short, snappy slogans on baseball hats and t-shirts.

This doesn't mean you should spend a lot of money all at once. If you have your logo in your computer, it shouldn't be hard to ad a line of type underneath it. Also, add your slogan to the signature you use in your e-mail messages.

5. Think benefits. Make a list. Tell them what they're going to get by choosing your business or your product or service, and tell them how. If you'll save them money by letting them make small monthly payments at no interest whatsoever, say so. Tell them if leading doctors have endorsed your nutritional product, or let the users speak for themselves.

Never lose sight of what's in it for the customer? They don't care if your company is terrific or if you're a great person. What will they get out of what you offer? Will your product make them sexier, richer, healthier? Will they look better, live longer, save money? 6. Give good value. People who are new in business are sometimes afraid to ask for sufficient compensation. By asking too little, they give customers and prospects the impression that they aren't offering value. Most people believe that "cheap is cheap" and "you get what you pay for." If you make your business worthwhile to your customers, they won't mind paying a fair price. 

Computers, web pages, voice mail, cell phones -- business has changed a lot over the years. But the traits that make people successful in business are much the same as they were in your grandfather's day. If you want to know if you should go into business for yourself, make sure you have these characteristics. 

1. You set goals. Chances are you've been setting goals from a very early age. Maybe you wanted to be the best at sports in school or the toughest kid on the playground. Perhaps you wanted to buy something and when your parents told you it was too expensive, you earned the money with a lemon-aid stand. 

As you got older, you developed other goals and worked for them. You probably haven't reached all of your goals, not yet anyway, but you've always known what you wanted. You never lose sight of your vision of the future. You keep setting new goals all the time and wonder how other people manage to live without specific things to strive for.

2. You like to know where you stand. You know your own business and that of your competitors, and how well yours measures up. You know how close you are to reaching the financial goals you've set for yourself. 

If you're in the early phases of your business, you keep tabs on how much you've borrowed, the interest rate and anything that could increase that interest rate. Later on, you know how much money you've socked away. You know whether you need to plow more money into the business or whether you can afford a new car, a bigger house or a vacation. You don't let your ego prevent you from facing facts. You know when you need to learn new skills or take other steps to make your business better. The skills you need to learn and the steps you need to take are different from in grandpa's time, but the required attitude is the same. You know you're never finished learning, and you welcome any chance to improve your skills and knowledge.

3. You're always looking for opportunities. Whether you've already started your business or are getting ready to start one, you know there are opportunities awaiting you at every turn. It's not a matter of simply finding an opportunity, it's a matter of finding one that will work for you. Even after you have a business, you're open to possibilities. You see the opportunities where other people might miss them, and when you do, you began to ask yourself pertinent questions. Is this as good as it sounds? Is this something I want to be doing? Will this use the skills I have or can develop? Will it help me reach my financial goals? Will it fit in with my family's needs?

You don't jump in impulsively but when an opportunity seems right, you're ready to grab it and take advantage of it. You don't want to look back someday on all the things you could have done but didn't. 

5. You don't settle for second best. If your supplier send you something you aren't proud to offer a customer, you send it back. You look for the best products and the best workmanship in the price category you've set. If you realize that you haven't done a good enough job for a customer, you'll go back over your work and set things right. The end result is that your customers reward you with repeat business. 

4. You have fun doing what you do. Not every minute of every job is fun, but on the whole you enjoy the work you do for your business. You enjoy it because it's yours and you're building something for the future. 

You don't really mind putting in the long hours because you know they're necessary for you to get where you're going. You juggle sales calls, keeping the books and making customers happy. You keep track of appointments and deadlines; you know when your yellow pages ad is due or when to reserve your flea market booth for next year. You spend time in friendly chats with customers but you know when it's time to stop socializing and get down to work. 

5. You get help when you need it. Sometimes you need expert help such as a professional to prepare your taxes, a lawyer to draw up important documents or a computer consultant to set up a special system for you. You may complain about their hourly rates but you know that with some things, it's better to be right than sorry later. Sometimes, too, you need help with small tasks, ones that take more time than you can give them now that you're running a business. Maybe you need someone to clean your shop or enter data on the computer or assist you in other ways. Their hourly rate should be considerably less than what you could earn by the hour. Of course, you think twice about taking on a full time employee and all that entails. However, you don't hesitate to hire the kind of help that leaves you free to do the things you do best.

   © 2000 Money Making Opportunities Magazine. All Rights Reserved