If you answered no to any of the above, you may be opening the door for your competitors to lure your best customers away. Every day, companies are continously bombarded with sales calls, direct mail pieces and other marketing techniques designed to convince your customer to switch vendors.

However, all is not lost. You can easily defend against this by implementing a simple loyalty program. Do small things that make your customers feel special.

I have listed a few items below that will help build loyalty among your customers.

• Designate a specific day of the week as 'Customer Appreciation Day' and have cookies available for all the customers.
• Send out $3 gift certificates from Starbucks. Customers love that one.
• Start a tradition of Employee Appreciation dinners and hold them regularly. Happy employees treat customers better which builds loyalty.
• Surprise your customers with an unexpected 5% to 10% off their purchase.
• Record birthdates of your customers and send them a birthday card. Nothing says 'Thank You' like a Birthday Card with a gift certificate from Marble Slab Creamery.
• Start an Email Marketing Campaign that delivers useful information to your customers on a regular basis. The key to success is being consistent.

This proven system doesn't cost very much but goes a long way toward building customer loyalty. As a result, your customers will come back time and time again as well as refer their friends to you.