Solid customer relationships don’t materialize with the first handshake. They take cultivation. Which means extra effort, extra time, a bit of massaging and lots of TLC. Luring curious customers in the beginning is actually the easy part. What’s hard is getting a return visit. Building customer loyalty takes a strategic effort and the rewards of a large and ardent customer base can be momentous.

The art of building sustainable connections with customers – and it is an art – calls for the same ingredients that fuel any personal relationship. Trust. Respect. Chemistry. These days customer management is an increasingly vital aspect of running a business – and a successful strategy is an extremely useful tool, no matter your business model.

So what can you do to grow and maintain customer relationships? Here are several steps that can help. [Read more…]