You work like crazy trying to attract attention and business,operating from a marketing calendar, committing to your strategyand doing everything right, resulting in an influx of customers-- but you l... You work like crazy trying to attract attention and business,operating from a marketing calendar, committing to your strategyand doing everything right, resulting in an influx of customers-- but you lose them. They never come back. You did yourmarketing so well and marketed so wisely that you're almost in astate of shock at how your customers ignore you. You treated them well while you were making your businesstransactions. You gave them a fair price, knew that the qualityyou put into your offering matched the quality they got out ofit. You assured them that service is your middle name. Yousmiled and used their name when you said good-bye, thanking themfor the sale. And then, after all that caring attention on yourpart, they completely ignored you, never set foot in yourbusiness again. Do you want to know why they ignored you, why it was so easy forthem to put you out of their minds? It's because you ignored them. It's because you made the saleand then made the grave but all-too-common error of thinkingthat your marketing job was over. That was a terrible error. Butat least you've got a lot of company making the same terribleerror. Nearly 70 percent of business lost in America is lost dueto apathy after the sale. Apathy is the deadliest enemy ofmarketing. A "love 'em and leave 'em" attitude is usually fatalto profitability. The opposite of apathy is follow-up. Guerrillas have a "love 'emand love 'em" attitude, marketing to prospects like crazy tillthe sale is made, then continuing to market like crazy to themafter the sale. Apathy never sets in. Customers never feelignored. Guerrillas do all in their power to intensify therelationship with caring follow-up and loving attention. Theyknow that once they have established a relationship, theirproduct or service is no longer thought of as a commodity.Businesses that offer commodities often lose customers due tocompetitors offering lower prices. Businesses that form warmrelationships transcend being thought of as a commodity andmaintain their customer relationships with service and constantcontact. No wonder they don't lose business so readily. People wantrelationships, want the businesses they patronize to stay incontact, want to feel cared for and not ignored. All guerrillasknow that their customer relationships are their most preciousassets. They know that if customers purchased from them one timeand had an enjoyable purchase experience, they are very likelyto buy from them again. And again and again. And to provide manyreferrals over time. To nourish these kind of lasting relationships, guerrillas sendthank-you notes after the sale -- within 48 hours. They contactcustomers within a month of the sale to make certain they aresatisfied and have no questions. They get in touch withcustomers once again three months after the sale, this timesuggesting new items that may tie-in with the original purchase.And three months after that, they make another contact. Thiskind of guerrilla follow-up not only prevents dreaded apathyfrom setting in, but also increases business anywhere from 20%to 300%. That's because customers, in their hearts, silentlyhope for recognition, acknowledgment, information, advanceopportunities to purchase, and new calls to action. Instead of the kind of apathy that loses customers forever,constant attention and follow-up results in healthy back-endsales. This means repeat sales, ancillary sales and referralsales. And this means big profits to you -- because it costs sixtimes more to sell something to a new prospect than to sell thatsame thing to an existing customer. These days, all the true marketing experts ask you to calculatethe lifetime value of a customer. If you don't understand thedamaging effects of apathy after the sale, that lifetime valueis pretty small, probably a few hundred dollars, if that. If youdo all in your power to prevent apathy from ever setting it, thelifetime value of each customer may be measured in hundreds ofthousands of dollars, maybe even more. You'll profit from theinitial sale, from the repeat sales, from the referral sales andfrom the long, mutually beneficial relationship. It happens onlywhen you defeat the most deadly enemy of marketing. And now youknow how to do that. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com