By Pattie Simone of Entrepreneur.com
Marketing and cats appear to have one thing in common: There's more than one way to skin them both. Marketing isn't just creating a brand and pursuing advertising campaigns; it's about delivering value. So while many entrepreneurs are scrambling to attract new business, some have discovered one of the easiest (and least expensive) tools to keep their sales engines humming: holding on to current patrons through superb customer service.
When you weigh the cost of attracting new clients vs. the cost of keeping the ones you have, superior customer service will beat most any ad campaign on ROI.
Manny and Clara Gonzales, owners of
Tiger Lily in Charleston, S.C., built their business on delivering exceptional customer service. By using a business model that delivers the best service on all fronts, the husband-and-wife team turned a struggling small business with two part-time employees into a nationally recognized industry leader employing 30 floral professionals.
"Real service is such a rare commodity out there -- it's really a desert of mediocrity," Manny Gonzales says. He says his fortune started to change when he broke some of the cardinal rules of the floral business. (He doesn't advertise in the Yellow Pages or use floral wire services.)
Gonzales says companies that offer a quality product and superior service have little competition. There's a whole population that wants to spend money on excellence, he says, adding that because of its reputation, his business attracts a higher caliber of employees who want to work some place that's focused on excellence.
Entrepreneur.com
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