5 Ways to Keep Customers Close and Content

Savvy women entrepreneurs realize that the key to success in a sluggish economy is keeping customers content, to avoid losing them to a competitor. Even better than that, however, is authentic interaction and creative promotions geared toward turning happy clients into raving fans. Why? Because raving fans are quite simply every business owners' dream sales force, enthusiastically sharing their positive feedback throughout varied networks.

Here are five easy and thrifty ways to produce windfall profits from your clients.

1. Actively institute multiple-platform client-feedback opportunities via a combination of phone outreach, targeted direct mail and social networking/viral venues, including a company blog, company e-newsletter and e-mail, Facebook and LinkedIn pages. If you are conducting a multi-question survey, try to include a meaningful offer, prize or gift in consideration of the client's time.
    
2. Respond sincerely and with gusto to complaints and kudos.
    
3. Plant fresh revenue-stream seeds via new products and reward-based sales campaigns (i.e., get a 50 percent-off coupon with your next order, free shipping with a minimum order, etc.).
    
4. Engage your immediate network of friends and community influencers with exciting product or services updates.
    
5. Promote client success stories via viral, print and face-to-face networking spaces (your website, PR, local chamber of commerce, trade and professional associations' portals, e-newsletters and social online networks like Twitter.)

Generate Buy-In and Buzz
Lisa Price, president and founder of Carol's Daughter, knows a thing or two about growing a client-focused business. Price, a fortysomething dynamo who has more than 100 employees, started her natural bath, body and hair-care products company at her kitchen table with $100.

According to Price, her company got on the fast track from the start because she developed interesting, fun new products such as Mango Body Butter, Honey Puddin' and Shea Butter Skin Smoothie that boasted natural ingredients. Her line not only attracted local clients, it also caught the eye of national celebrities, including Halle Berry and Jada Pinkett-Smith. While timing played a key role, tapping into a growing interest in natural products, Price credits her hyper-local interaction with friends, family community leaders and local organizations such as churches and the YMCA for her company's growth.

Price figures each connection she makes has 30 other contacts she doesn't know, who in turn have 30 contacts of their own, and so on. "The power of forward is incredible. You have to get in touch with the people who are close to the business by touching their lives and what is important to them," Price says. "Donate your time and services to events and local causes. Print fliers and hand them out at busy points in the neighborhood: bake sales, block parties, restaurants, etc."

Price says it's the personal approach that leads to measurable, organic success. In her case, it landed Carolyn's Daughter on Oprah and opened additional doors to secure larger market sales as a national brand.

Attention to Details Delivers
According to Stacie Francombe, president and founder of Lifetime's popular weekly Get Married TV show, Get Married.com and soon-to-launch Get Married magazine, her company's amazing success trajectory is a direct result of keeping her customers happy.

"We've got two distinct sets of clients: local and national bridal vendors who are our advertisers, and--of course--the brides. We bend over backward to service their respective needs," says Francombe, whose show features emerging bridal news via film crews shooting in different locations all over the country. That means posting an answer to a specific question on Francombe's personal blog the day after an offsite bridal event or personally handling a vendor suggestion about the TV show. It also means having a real presence on online and social networking spaces, vigilantly sharing fresh tips and trends on the tech- and video-rich website, the active blog and the e-newsletter, or tweeting with vendors and brides in real time.

If you are serious about wanting to build serious buzz and sales, then providing outstanding service, online interactivity and overall responsive to your current and prospective clients' rants and raves should be tops in your marketing mix.

Got some client-retention and fan-producing tips to share? We'd love to hear from you.