Customers are rather comical. They will hardly ever tell you how you failed, they will just leave. Blink and they're gone!

You can always get to the bottom of this problem, no matter what size your company is.

Do your upkeep. Call them up. Talk to them. Send them a letter.

Don't just forget about them after taking their order. Keep in mind that it is much simpler and even more profitable to do more business with the clients you already have than it is to find new ones. Hence, do whatever you need to make sure those existing clients are happy ones.

Here are some easy practices that you could think about adding to your customer service routine:

• Follow-up with a client a week after they buy a product or service. Ask them what worked and what didn't. Interestingly enough, sometimes your most loyal customers are the ones that get the chance to tell you what's wrong and you do what it takes to fix it.
  
• Mail letters, postcards, article reprints, notes, anything, as frequently as possible. When you stay in touch, you build a bond that will serve you well when you begin new projects and new product lines.
  
• The best way to find out what works and what doesn't work is by talking to your customers about it. This is the best way to find unknown gold mines in your business. The secret to marketing is understanding very specifically why customers decide to buy from you over others. Look for particular phrases like...that's how we've always done it or we don't like it but we've learned to live with it.
  
• Plan routine maintenance appointments or calls with your clients. Regularly after you clients have been enjoying your product or service, they fail to remember how much value it is bringing them. Discover a way to build frequent meetings with your clients into your service. Use the time to show them just how much you have done for them, like how much weight have they lost, how much money have they saved, how much more efficient are they, how much more business they now have, how much of whatever it is that you do. Your customer will be grateful for the time and it is a wonderful way to bring in new products and ask for testimonials and referrals.