Dear Customer

Customers are an investment. Time, money and resources have been spent on reeling them in to buy your product or service. Once they’re in, your cost to get them to re-purchase will be much lower than the initial cost. Therefore, their return on your investment increases over time.

I encountered a great example of this the other day. My business partners and I needed new business cards and we had already established contact with a printer. There was, however, a miscalculation/misunderstanding that led to a price that was much higher than was originally quoted/estimated. Instead of pressing the issue, we settled on a compromise. The printer might break even or make a minor loss now, but they know that we would come back for more when needed. There’s also the additional business of letterheads, envelopes, brochures, et cetera. They understood that making this investment/sacrifice would benefit them over time.

Understand that your customer is an investment. Take the long-term return on your investment into consideration.