My second time in here, and I feel my alter-ego is taking over. It is reminding me of what I should know. And, here's the same streak as Moses' 10 commandments.

99 Tips to Get and Keep Customers

1. It’s not about what you want to sell. It’s about what customers need and can afford.
2. Research on customer requirements is investment with long-term returns.
3. Market your products/services with customer satisfaction, building customer loyalty, growing customer base and minimal complaints in mind.
4. Strive to offer topnotch products and services.
5. Understanding specific reasons why customers want your products/services will help you in tailoring you offer to their specifications.
6. Customers change their tastes; new products/services keep coming up. Keep up with your research on changing customer tastes.
7. Group your customers into regular-high users and irregular-low users. Then strive to convert the irregular-low users to regular high-users.
8. Use the factor(s) that keep regular high-users coming and also turn irregular low-users to regular high-users.
9. Understand why customers pay for your products/services and use it as your selling point.
10. Do number 9 often and get the information from customers—directly. You may give them incentives to encourage the return of survey questionnaires within a preset deadline.
11. Promote what customers will gain from using your products/services.
12. Be flexible to different customers buying methods. Individual customers, public agencies, private organizations and not-for-profit groups have different procedures for purchasing products/services even within a given entity.
13. Find out who has the final word to go-ahead with a purchase in any organization.
14. People leave departments and organizations. If you have been dealing with one person in an organization, ask him or her to introduce you to someone else before leaving.
15. Note that aspects of #11 and 12 change continuously. Update your records.
16. Equip yourself with knowledge on how product/service, price, promotion and the place of buyers interact
17. Let the quality of your products/services be the driving force for selling price.
18. Capitalize on the factor (products/services or price or promotion and place of buyers) that customers are more in tune with.
19. Close monitoring of customer needs should lead to re-checking what factor is dominating their selection of your product /services.
20. You may interchange the factors from time to time to keep customers coming in for business.
21. What other products/services can you offer to increase your bottom line while saving customers the pain of going elsewhere.
22. Know who else is competing for the same customer base and what’s their leverage, products/services quality, price, promotion or a combination.
23. Find out what your competitors are charging for the same products/services. Price is an adjustable factor.
24. Bear in mind, customers pay for value. Find out how you and your products/services are perceived.
25. Highlight the benefits of your products/services from a customer’s viewpoint.
26. There is no substitute for public relations. How, when, where and what to tell prospects about your products/services is critical for their buy-in.
27. It has been said that it’s cheaper to keep an existing customer than to recruit a new one. Build relationships.
28. A potential customer is not as important to your immediate bottom line as the one currently buying your products/services. Don’t ignore an existing customer to accommodate a potential one—chances are you will lose both.
29. Know on the average, a dissatisfied customer passes the information about your poor (based on the dissatisfied customer’s perception) products/services to about 12½ people who have relatives, coworkers and friends to talk to about your poor products/services.
30. Probably the most important information about your products/services comes from dissatisfied customers. Plead with them on how you can win them back—and from their instructions if possible.
31. A Swahili proverb says, “Heshima si utumwa” meaning “Respect is not slavery.” Respecting your customers does not reduce you to a lesser being. Serve them without letting your ego be an insult to their intellect.
32. An enthusiastically pronounced THANK YOU after a customer’s purchase may be the only thing they remember about their last visit. Do it all the time.
33. Remember the old adage “Out of sight, out of mind”—your products/services must be in front of your customers in one way or another all the time.
34. Again, retain customers by improving your products/services to meet the changing expectations.
35. You are in the business of serving customers so that you can stay in business—do it exceptionally well.
36. Find out why customers stop buying your products/services. Did they move or did they find a better product/service provider?
37. Attract new customers to replace those loyal customers who might have moved or lost purchase power with special offers.
38. There is a saying in Swahili that literally means he/she who wants something that is on the ground has to bend. To get new customers, bend towards them.
39. Ask existing customers to refer you to their colleagues who might need the products/service you offer. For customers to do this for you, they must be very satisfied with your products/services.
40. Offer incentives to encourage your customer base to lead you to new customers. Have your customers introduce you to their colleagues.
41. Inform the new lead that their friend referred you to him/her and offer an incentive that will bring them in for business.
42. Thank your customers for referring you to new leads.
43. There is no substitute for quality. Offering poor quality products/services is a proven bad marketing strategy.
44. Whenever you have a new edition or improvement on your products/services, inform your existing customers and also promote them to potential customers.
45. Find out from customers if there is any difference between the old products/services and the new edition or improvement.
46. Before spending money in developing new products/services, find out how they will impacts your existing products/services. It may be cost effective to refresh your old stuff by introducing new variants, customer-friendly packaging, or improved versions.
47. Again, knowledge about how your competitors are upgrading their products/services, prices and promotions will always be a source of leverage for you.
48. Differentiate yourself from your competitors. Even if you all sell mashed potatoes, you can always have a unique gravy.
49. Highlight a unique aspect about your products/services that is lacking in your competitors products/services.
50. Always review your products/services, prices and promotions with intention of making them more customer-focused.
51. Be creative and add value with a combination of free delivery, free trial, choice of payment terms plan—better if it’s interest free.
52. Guarantee full payment return if a customer is not satisfied in 30 days with your product.
53. Offer opportunity for after purchase customer support through consultation.
54. Select incentives for retaining existing customers and attracting customers carefully. Bad taste can backfire.
55. Whatever incentive you use, it must direct customers to your products/services.
56. Use testimonials from satisfied customers, with their permission.
57. Use promotion/advertisement strategies and language that is sensitive to cultural and gender differences.
58. Brand your products/services in a simple, quality related manner. It is a powerful tool for building customer loyalty and prominence in a competitive market.
59. Come up with product/service names that serve as tools in helping make sales.
60. Name your product/service in an easy to remember manner, short and with no negative connotations within the culture of your customer base.
61. Product brand attributes with positive perception include durability, authentic value, reliability and usability.
62. Service brand attributes that attract customers include knowledgeability, years of experience, creativity, courtesy, helpfulness and friendliness.
63. Create brand recognition across your entire product/service line.
64. Your brand must be an enhancement to your product/service quality, not a substitute.
65. Your business name, logo, packaging, and promotion/advertising materials must convey your brand’s recognition.
66. Develop your brand so that it can convey to your customers what you stand for.
67. Research new markets and new products/services to keep growing.
68. Explore all possible market avenues. The internet is a borderless and 24/7 marketplace.
69. Ask existing customers what other products/services they think they can benefit from if your offered them.
70. To grow with new markets and new products/services, you must be flexible.
71. Engineer your new products/services in such a way that they can be purchased together with your existing products/service.
72. Use all possible marketing channels. There is no bad marketing so long as your product/service quality and pricing are top notch.
73. Before any publicity, write what you want to achieve from your efforts.
74. Be specific with your publicity strategies, time conscious and able to measure the returns of your efforts.
75. Give gifts (wall and desktop items) that remind customers of your products/services.
76. Use local and regional directories and other media publications to publicize your products/service.
77. Combine several channels of publicity to maximize your dollar and efforts. You can use radio, TV, Internet, press, direct mail (must to target group) in any combinations that suits your budget.
78. Prepare customers in advance with previews and incentives for pre-production purchases.
79. Your publicity materials must be of the highest integrity, can be substantiated, clear, and presents the right image.
80. Press advertisement is generally affordable but present your ads to win a customer.
81. Test the appropriateness of your ads by asking selected customers, friends, or other folks whose main interest is to see you succeed.
82. Basics of printed ad’s success include using readable print, space between paragraphs, heavy dashed border for increased impact and keeping it simple.
83. To increase readership for your printed ads, use color.
84. Radio ads are listened to by people at home, work and in their cars. Add attention-getters like accents, music and sounds.
85. TV ads are more costly but have immediate impact. You have to know when, how and where to advertise—I recommend you work with a TV station’s agents.
86. Use targeted direct mail, with names of the people you want to read your ads.
87. Include pieces of what others are saying about the usefulness/applicability of your products/services.
88. Again, keep your mailing list updated, changing names and addresses as your customers move and new ones come.
89. Make it simple for the recipient of direct mail to take action by including the following: cover letter, brochure or catalog,newsletter, order form, phone/fax numbers, e-mail address, other promotional. materials (like video, CDs or cassettes, free gifts), and self addressed stamped envelope.
90. Silly mistakes like misspelled names, poor readability that gives bad impression about your products/services can be avoided by having several people read your mail before you send it.
91. Develop a presence in the marketplace of the future-the internet with the view of sharing information about your products/services, selling your products/services and learning what customers want, when, where, and how they want it.
92. The extent of your success in the marketplace entirely depends on how well you develop and execute your marketing strategy.
93. Have a clear/specific picture of the future you want for your products/services that can be broken down into short and long term projects.
94. Prepare for unpredictable changes in the marketplace by being flexible with your product/service development, pricing and marketing strategies.
95. Join professional and network groups and service clubs—people love buying from people they know
96. Set times to start projects and deadlines for successful completion of your projects.
97. You must always review your current situation, set attainable goals, develop action plan, execute your plan and review your achievements.
98. There is no substitute for hard work in product/service development, improvements, marketing, attracting and keeping customers.
99. Again, tip number one should get you started and keep you focused in all processes of your business.