How do we earn repeat business and referrals?

Loyal clients - or at least highly satisfied clients - are the ones more likely to buy from us again, refer others to us, and spread good word of mouth about our business.

Implementing the three strategies below (or reviewing how you're already executing them to determine if there’s further fine-tuning required) will help you in this endeavor.

1. Express appreciation

It’s so simple and yet so often overlooked. Beyond our most basic physiological needs such as food and water, human beings also crave emotional sustenance such as love and affirmation. Love can be described as a sense of connection, and affirmation includes respect and recognition. So, finding ways to communicate to your clients (both existing and prospective) that you appreciate them and celebrate their positive qualities goes a long way to meeting that psychological need we all possess.

Whether you demonstrate your appreciation with a thoughtful gift or kind...

You’ve heard this quote before, right? “People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care [about them]."

It has been attributed to many people including Theodore Roosevelt, John Maxwell, and Earl Nightingale, but who said it first isn’t important. What’s important is that you understand it and benefit from its message.

Being in a tech-connected world means higher levels of competition than ever before. Customers can easily find your competitors online, they can buy products and services with the click of a button, and they can read the opinions of clients you’ve previously worked with. That means the days of being able to be a jerk and still be professionally successful are running out.

However, you don’t have to be a jerk for this principle to apply to you. Customers no longer have to be repulsed by someone to make them decide to take their business elsewhere. Back in the day when you were the...