Why you need a customer list (a lesson from a restaurant!)

Dien,

Seems basic doesn't it?

I don't believe most small business owners comprehend that
their business is the customers. Without customers, you have
no business.

I stopped in to discuss an ad program with a local lawn tractor
business owner. He was complaining about the big box stores.
Said that people who bought their lawn tractors from the big
box stores were calling him wanting him to do the repairs.

He said, in a very self-satisfied way, "I told them to take it
back to the big box store and see if they'll fix it for you."

Then the conversation drifted over to customer lists and staying
in touch with customers. My direction. He talked about a thank you
card program that his daughter had instigated. They were going out
to people who had spent hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars
on lawn tractors.

The cards were costing him $2 ea. to send. The $2 cost bugged him and
he nixed the idea.

I left. I don't have a tool that can open a rusted-shut mind.

Ron