For Laura Lake, a business writer with About.com, the statistics tell the story:

• Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers.
• Referrals among repeat customers are 107% greater than non-customers.
• It costs six times more to sell something to a prospect than to sell that same thing to a customer.

She points out, “While a growing business needs to constantly capture new customers, the focus and priority should be on pleasing your existing customer base. Companies that fail to nurture and retain their customer base ultimately fail.”

Gail F. Goodman, E-mail Marketing coach with Entrepreneur.com, agrees, “Never underestimate the value and reach of a loyal, repeat customer. Keep customers coming back for more—and bringing their friends with them…”

And Brad Cleveland, President of ICMI, sees these principles as keys to building good customer relationships:

• Continuously learn about your customers.
• Handle different customers differently.
• Anticipate customer needs with the knowledge you have about your customers.
• Interact with customers.
• Focus on revenue and retention.
• Remember that cultivating customer relationships is a way of doing business.