Which business can honestly say they have never lost any customers? It happens to us all. What is key though is making sure that you maintain some kind of contact with this former customer. Because when it comes down to it they made a conscious decision to stop buying from you.

However, keeping in contact is not always easy. This sort of relationship, for example, is not feasible if you’re in the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) market. You just don’t have the time and the customers don’t want to know. You can try to maintain a connection through social networking, but more often than not it comes across as false and the customer ends up being treated as a number.

Having said that, if you are a smaller company, and you employ more of a personal touch, maintaining communication with new customers as well as former customers is so important.

Personally I aim to welcome each new customer individually because I really am happy to see people who are interested and want to buy. It doesn’t matter if they are the 1st customer or the 1 000 000th. If they didn’t come and spend money at my company then my company would not exist, so I want to say thanks and help them. It’s true this does take a serious amount of time, but don’t underestimate it. These kinds of relationships are so important even at the start.

The sooner you start creating this relationship the better. We all know that your customers won’t tell you when they are not happy. But is that true? Maybe they would if they had an opportunity to give honest feedback – not with a bog-standard form, but with a phone call or a personalised email. When it comes down to it, this direct approach is much better as you can then give an honest direct answer back.

This relationship also goes beyond the moment the customer leaves. Don’t forget that they will have left for a reason – and while they may not have told you they were unhappy, they may well tell you what you could do to improve. So ask the question, if you can, and you never know, your product roadmap or customer service strategy may take a huge positive step.

To sum this all up – talk! Be open and honest, ask for feedback and don’t be scared of what you hear. How you react here could decide whether you are the top of your industry, middle of the road or non-existant.