You spend a lot of your time, money and resources developing new business, whether new customers buying products from you or new team members working the opportunity on your team.

Shouldn’t you spend an equal amount of time, money, and resources making sure those new contacts stay with you? It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. Here are three tips that might help you retain new customers and team members in your business:

#1 Give Excellent Service.

In the case of a customer buying your product or service, put yourself in their shoes.

Experience the process of doing business with you and see how you can make that a better experience for your customers.

• Are you friendly to talk with?
• Knowledgeable about your company and products?
• Do you get back to them when they contact you?
• Do you make contacting you easy by offering multiple choices such as text, email, messenger, etc.?
• Do you offer multiple ways for the customer to pay for their purchases?
• How many times do you thank the customer?
• Do you send a thank you card each and every order they place with you?

In the case of a team member:

• Do you treat them how you would want to be treated?
• Do you provide recognition when they make progress?
• Do you encourage them to try new things to grow their business?
• Do you offer training and tips so they can reach their goals faster?
• Do you ask them what they are working toward so that you can help them better reach their goals?

Find information to pass on to your team members that is not just repeating what the company says. Attend classes and read books so that you have new ideas to share with your team members.

#2 The Little Things Count.

Find ways to personalize the experience for your customers and team members.

Always address them by name when talking to them. Ask about their spouse’s or partner’s name and make a note of it along with any other information.

Find ways to show you care about them as a person, not just a number. One way you might do this is what I call “Facebook Espionage” – I look on Facebook for posts with pictures of customers and team members and then I send them the picture on the front of a greeting card. (I use SendOutCards because it is super convenient.) Since most people no longer print their pictures out, this is a great service to provide and people often take those cards and post them on their refrigerator or office bulletin board.

Want to go that extra mile for a customer? Little touches mean a lot! Buy a bag of tootsie roll minis and tape one on each of your invoices. Write THANK YOU in magic marker and buy THANK YOU stickers and decorate their invoice and delivery bag with them.

If you give samples to customers, make a note of what you gave them and then follow up by asking if they had a chance to try the sample and ask their opinion. Even asking customers for testimonials can make customers feel a connection to you and your business: they feel you trust their opinion.

#3 Stay in Touch.

Each day I have a goal to “reach out” to a certain number of customers and team members. That might be via text, email, phone, postal mail or social media. I want to reach out to different people every day so that my customer base and team members know that I am here and thinking about them and want to stay connected.

Offer a customer VIP group on Facebook so that you can offer product information and pass along any company issued coupon codes. Have customers get involved in the group by making polls and other posts that encourage participation.

Having a special group for your team members is critical, too; since being part of a team is often one of the most important features that direct sellers value in a company. I offer weekly Zoom meetings for my team called TEAM TIME TUESDAY and post the replays in our Facebook group.

Be sure when you are contacting your customers and team members that it is not always about selling them something.

If you know a customer enjoys watching baseball, for example, you might text her a “Congratulations! I saw that your team won the game!” Know some details so that you can reach out about things other than work all the time. Do you have customers and/or team members spread across the country? Be sure and search your database the next time you are traveling so that you can get together with them when you are in their area. Offer to meet up for coffee or invite them to the event you are traveling there to attend. It is important that people feel connected to you and that you care about them – not just what they are doing for you.