STATEN ISLAND,  N.Y. — Excellent customer/client retention and referrals are essential ingredients of a growing, successful brand.

Whether you run a professional practice, restaurant, retail business or manufacturing facility, there are a number of crucial steps you should take to ensure your customers or clients remain happy and loyal.

Carmelo DeFranco, left, president of New York City (NYC) Business Group, makes sure he is readily available to meet with  clients.

Here is a checklist of what you need to do:

1) First of all, be honest

Never oversell your products or services, or promise something you can’t deliver. It’s much better to impress a client by surpassing their expectations, rather than providing disappointing results.

2) Communicate, communicate and communicate

The need to provide – and receive – information doesn’t end when a sales is closed.

If the service you are providing is ongoing, keep your client informed each and every step of the way. In some situations, it’s wise to schedule regular meetings to discuss the progress of a project and, if needed, supplemental changes or improvements to the original plan.

3) Always be available

There are few greater ways to irritate someone than to ignore an email or phone call.

Make certain that you check your emails frequently throughout the workday – and respond accordingly. Also, promptly return missed calls. If clients can’t reach you when you’re needed, you soon will be not needed at all.

4) Remind customers that you still exist

Highly satisfied past and present patrons, as well as those you hope to attract, may know all about the fine-quality work or products your provide – but that doesn’t mean they will turn to you the next time they need services such as yours. Your clients are bombarded daily with solicitations from competitors claiming to have the best solutions for their needs.

You can easily lose customers because of this: The old, but true, out-of-sight/out-of-mind syndrome.

 If you want to stay in the game, even your most satisfied clients may need regular reminders that you still exist!

5) Build your brand efficiently

You can increase the image and visibility of your business or professional brand – and inspire your clients to return – by reaching your targeted audience through a combination of traditional and digital means. This could include well-managed social media programs, an effective Website presence, e-mail strategies, print and broadcast-media exposure, and more. An experienced public relations and marketing professional should be able to help you with this. Relevant Public Relations ensures all brand-building efforts are sensible, workable, integrated and effective. 

About Relevant Public Relations LLC

Relevant Public Relations LLC (Relevant PR), “Where Success is Written®,” is a New York City-based multimedia public relations and marketing company with local, national and global reach. The firm’s founder and president, Barton Horowitz, is a Small Business Administration (SBA) Champion of the Year Award winner and recipient of a 2013 Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award.

Economically headquartered in the New York City borough of Staten Island, Relevant PR leads businesses, professional practices and organizations to greater heights by cost-effectively integrating all marketing and PR needs into a single efficiently run operation.

Relevant Public Relation’s custom-designed branding strategies succeed due to an innovative recipe of press releases; traditional, digital and broadcast-news distribution; social-media management; Website and blog content; e-mail marketing; commercial copywriting, and more.

Whether your enterprise requires a single press release, a multimedia campaign or the information on a company brochure or Website professionally written, edited or updated, Relevant Public Relations is the right choice.

Relevant Public Relations is available online at www.RelevantPR.com, and may be reached at 718-682-1509 or via email: [email protected].