Keep on keeping on

I heard the British comedian Bill Bailey on the radio programme Desert Island Discs recently.

H said that when he asked an established fellow comedian for some advice on how to entertain an audience when doing stand up, he was told by "just keep saying funny things to them".

It's simple and forthright (even obvious?) advice.

So when I'm asked how organisations can create devoted customers, I now reply "just keep doing great things to them".

In the same way that comedy is about consistently saying things that make people laugh, creating 'devoted' customers is about consistently doing things that make customers feel valued.

Simple and forthright (even obvious?) advice.

So here are 15 more straightforward things you ca do to build customer loyalty. Just keep...

• Answering the phone promptly and courteously
• Replying quickly to email enquiries
• Being easy to buy from
• Delivering on time
• Standing in your customers shoes and in your own queues
• Your promises
• Praising and rewarding those people who go the extra mile for customers
• Making customers feel valued
• Finding ways to surprise them (positively please!)
• All your communication with customers relevant and value adding
• Searching for opportunities to improve what you do
• Raising your customers' expectations
• Delivering 'great' experiences
• Asking for customer feedback to check that they're 'completely happy'
• Taking action as a result of that feedback

You're probably reading this saying to yourself 'There's nothing new here. We do all this stuff.'

I'd respond by saying: 'Just keep asking yourself: do we really?'

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