Organizational Excellence - Book Summary: "Customers for Keeps", by Lois K. Geller - News: JFD Performance Solutions

Customers for Keeps. 8 Powerful Strategies to Turn Customers into Friends and Keep Them Forever is a very comprehensive book that compares customers to your friends, and how relating to customers as you would a good friend can result in more new and repeat business for your company. Companies must be more customer oriented than ever, and Geller urges us to use "friendship branding" to think about our company in a human way; and to create a warm emotional bond with our customers.

Stage One: Putting a Human Face on Your Company
As buyers and consumers, it's hard to make a human connection with most brands and companies. The more your can company can "speak" to your customers on a level that works for them, the more will want to do business with you.

Harvey Mackay certainly knows what it takes to be successful. And like most successful people, he learned from other great leaders in the world, like Sam Walton of Walmart. Enjoy these words of wisdom from the largest employer in the world, taken from the writings of Harvey.

Sam Walton, the legendary founder of Walmart, had 10 rules for running a successful business. They are simple and straightforward, but guess what? I would bet the farm that a great many businesses don't follow them -- and they'd be better off if they did.

Read these and see how they might fit into your business plan for 2010 and beyond. Take note that even in this tough economy, Walmart is prospering.

1. Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anyone else. Passion is at the top of the list of the skills you need to excel. When you have passion, you speak with conviction, act with authority and present with zeal. If you don't have an intense, burning desire for what you are doing, there's no way you'll be able to work the long, hard hours it takes to become successful.

In their book "First, Break All the Rules. What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently", authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman cover a lot of territory. One of the most interesting sections for me is their research regarding top performers. They found that measuring the strength of a workplace can be simplified to twelve questions.

A business parable, Beans tells the story of a coffee bar in Seattle. The authors describe four essential ingredients for success that apply to companies of any size: start with passion, hire good people, make the buying experience personal, and maintain a good product.

There has been much written, especially these days, about the importance of staying in touch with your clients. It is critical, they say, to reach out on a consistent basis to remind your clients what you do and the value that your business provides for them. So true! But it can take a lot of time and effort, which many businesses don't have the inclination to expend or discipline to do. So this got me thinking, if you were to treat your clients like you do your friends and family, and communicate accordingly, would that increase the importance of these activities for you...and help you to do a better job at staying in touch? Let's take a closer look at some examples.