There are a couple of options open to you if you want to be a successful business with a lot of repeat customers and repeat business.

In other words, we’ll be exploring options if the goal is to keep people coming back again and again and again.

First you should aim to be “the only game in town” like DSTV.

Yes DSTV has “competition” but we can think of them as poor rip offs because DSTV has exclusive rights to the stuff that most people want to watch like UEFA and select kiddies channels from the Disney and Nickelodeon family, etc.

So the competition has to get some generic stuff and offer really bouquets to appeal to a lower market tier.

Off course DSTV eventually came out with GOTv targeting the same market segment with the same exclusive content.

Is DSTV a monopoly? Some people argue the case either way! But wherever you fall on the argument, you’ll agree that for most of us, having exclusive content or some exclusive offering isn’t an option.

If you’re a wedding photographer, or you import goods from overseas, you can’t have an exclusive offering for long.

Eventually everyone in the market is going to copy you if you’re successful and your advantage will be gone.

So if exclusive offerings are out of the question, what can we do that our competition can’t copy?

The only option that remains is to become a responsive business!

Being a responsive business is a lot of hard work. Your competition most likely prefers to go after low hanging fruit. They won’t put in the level of work required to copy you. The average business owner isn’t responsive.

Respond timely to enquiries and seek feedback often to grow your business offering. This will be a good way to differentiate yourself from other players in your market.

Being responsive also means we should pay attention to “customer success”. This is something we should borrow from our brothers and sisters in the software industry.

In the software space, it is now common to ask questions like...

“Now that they have purchased from us, have they been successful with using the service?

“Did the product or service help them solve the problem or achieve their goals?”

“Are they happy?”

The reasons for these questions are obvious. If the were not successful with the transaction, there is little incentive for them to come back and do business with us again, or to refer us to their friends, family, and associates.

Off course we can’t be responsive until we call them after the sale to find out.

Part of the responsiveness matrix is being able to reach out to the customer regularly and be in constant communication with them.

It is only then that we’ll get the feedback we need to see if they’re happy, figure out how we can improve the business, and get the opportunity to keep “toasting” them for new business.

Decide to be responsive today!