Last week I talked about doing an excellent job as one of the prerequisites to creating loyal customers. Loyal customers are the best because they will do more business with you, they will refer others to you and they are easier and better to work for.

While doing an excellent job is is the beginning to creating loyal customers, that alone will not build loyal customers. The next thing you need to do to keep your customers loyal to you is to keep in touch with them on a regular basis.

So many times, contractors tend to think that if they do a great job for someone, then that customer will remain loyal to them for life and never do business with another contractor. This is a nice thought, but it does not portray reality.

The truth is that everyone’s memory fades as time goes by. We all lose touch with people that at one time we felt close to and had warm feelings toward. Your customers are no different. If you don’t make the effort to keep in touch with all of your customers on a regular basis, don’t be surprised if they choose another contractor when they need more work done 2 years from now.

Some contractors send something to their customers at Christmas or once or twice a year. I don’t think that is enough to keep your customers loyal to you. It’s like calling a friend once a year and expecting them to remain a close friend. Believe me, I’ve had close friends with whom I’ve been in touch with only once a year or less and it’s not long before we don’t keep in touch at all for years and we lose track of each other.

I have seen contractors who send something to their customers every quarter. This is better than once a year, but it still doesn’t build the kind of customer loyalty that you want to build.

In my opinion, customers need to hear from you a minimum of once a month in order to be loyal to you like you want them to be. As an example, I have customers who I haven’t worked for in years, but they still refer others to me and still are trying to help me get more work. That is the kind of loyalty you want to build in your customers.

If you won’t make the effort to keep in touch with your customers at least once a month, why would you think that you deserve to have their loyalty? Loyalty is much stronger than just being satisfied with your work. Satisfied customers don’t complain, but they don’t go out of their way to tell others about you either. Besides, they can get satisfaction from a lot of contractors.

So if you want to make your business a lot easier and enjoyable, make the extra effort it takes to build loyal customers and you might be surprised how little other advertising you need.