August 9, 2007 | Category: Marketing | Tags: Small Business Tips

Establishing a good and lasting relationship with your customers is the key to the long-term growth of your business ventures. According to a new manifesto by entrepreneur and author, Rajesh Setty, the best way to forge a relationship is to be a piece in many puzzles:

Everybody is solving one or more puzzles at any part of their lives. The problem is they have too little time to gather all the puzzle pieces and complete the puzzle within a reasonable amount of time. If you want to truly add value to others in a very short time, try and become a piece of their puzzle and help them complete the puzzle in a time shorter than what it would have taken them to complete it without YOU.

There are some basic things you can apply to your business:

• Take time to listen to customer complaints and suggestions. Minimize talking and focus on what your company can do to solve their problems or how you can accommodate their suggestions.
• Improve your customer service to encourage repeat purchase and word-of-mouth advertising.
• We all love freebies, so offer rewards to your loyal customers in the form of discounts or free goods.