My cousin Chris is a huge snowboarding enthusiast. So much so that he spent many years working on the ski hills in British Columbia.

So let’s say, for example, that Chris has a favorite board shop where he buys all his gear. Let’s call that shop ‘Edge Riders’. He likes it there – the staff know him by name, they are knowledgeable, and he purchases from them several times a year.

Then one day, while surfing Facebook, Chris sees an ad for another nearby board shop. He clicks through to their page, looks around and finds they share fun and helpful information. So, he ‘LIKES’ the page to receive their updates.

Now a few times a week Chris sees posts by this other board shop. They share interesting articles, cool videos and photos, and in general seem well connected to the local boarding culture.

Someone else is wooing Edge Riders’ customer.

A couple months later Chris notices a post by the second board shop about a new type of board they are the exclusive local retailer for. It happens to be a brand Chris just read about on a snowboarding blog he follows – so after work he pops over to take a look.

The staff are very helpful, and in fact he recognizes some of them from being out on the hills. He also LOVES the board, and decides to buy it that day.

Yes, Chris is a loyal Edge Rider customer; buying a snowboard from the other guys was innocent. BUT, now they have established trust and a relationship with Chris, which has led to an investment on his part.

Chris is in danger of defecting…and the other company is going to keep on wooing him. Let’s hope that Edge Rider is keeping in touch even when he’s not physically in the shop.

What about you? Are you wooing your customers?

Some things to think about…

• If a long time customer didn’t buy from you for X number of months do you have a way of knowing this so you can reach out?
• Are you keeping in touch with your customers on a regular or semi-regular basis via social media, email, traditional mail or special events?
• How are your competitors wooing potential new customers? (your customers)
• Do you have a formal program in place to ‘romance‘ your customers throughout the year (such as birthday, anniversary and Christmas cards)
• Do you provide a positive and memorable experience for your customers? Are your staff well-trained and knowledgeable about your products?

This is some important food for thought. Please do know that no matter how much your customers love you…they could be in the process of getting innocently romanced by your competitor.

Let’s stay on top of things!