I’ve asked this question many times in articles, blog posts and a variety of other places. Let’s be honest here: Do you REALLY know what your customers think of you? I don’t care if you’re a one-person business or one with a thousand employees, if you’re not regularly asking the folks who hand you checks, purchase orders or credit cards what they think of your company, employees, services, products, logos, signs, bathrooms - really, everything - then you’re probably losing money, opportunities and, worst of all, customers.

You might say, “Well, we’re as busy as we can stand to be. Obviously things are going well.” I can’t argue with that logic, but I don’t know a single business owner that wouldn’t like to either have to have more employees to handle an overflow of business, or be able to charge a bit more on the business they have.

I tell my clients, “Everything matters - everything!” They ask, “Even bathrooms?” You betcha! Think back to when you went to a store and wound up having to ask for directions to the “facilities.” You got there, walked in and thought, “If this weren’t really urgent, I’d turn around and walk out.” Whether you know it or not, that registers and, should there be anything else that comes up that you don’t like, your subconscious will add that to the decision process whether you’re aware of it or not. That subconscious score keeping can be why you switch vendors yourself, or don’t feel a particular loyalty to them - the little things have added up and subtracted your interest in them.

Given that keeping a customer generally costs one-fifth of what it costs to get a new one, why would you take the chance. By the same token, why take the chance of missing an opportunity when you get them close? So, what do you do? Talk to them, ask questions, give them coupons and discounts in return for survey completions. Hold focus groups and get an 800-number where they can call anonymously.

Look around at your place of business and listen to your employees as though you were the customer. What are you seeing and hearing? If it doesn’t make you smile, it’s time to get busy. Better yet, get a trusted friend or advisor who will tell you the truth and ask them to be totally candid with you about things.

If this seems like too much work, then maybe your customers might not see doing business with you as worth the effort either.