How much of your business is about notification? In other words, when is that moment when you have to share details of some action or inaction with your customers? On first glance, you might be tempted to minimize the answer to this question. After all, unless you are in a handful of industries such as security systems or breaking news media, chances are you don't see your business in terms of how you notify your customers about updates or changes. Yet if you sell a retail product online, the notification that it has shipped to your customer is pretty important. If you own a restaurant, the moment when you let a customer know their table is ready matters. The point is, notification is more important than we sometimes think - for almost any kind of business.
Step 2: Ask your customers what they prefer.  The biggest mistake many small businesses make is solely collecting one method of contact from their customers. If you have just focused on building your email list, what about your customers who might prefer to get a text message? For those who you might send direct mail to – what if you know they responded far better to email. Often the answers to these questions are seen as truths you discover upon doing some text campaigns. Instead of focusing solely on that, what if you just asked your customers instead? Then you could not only tailor your communications better and likely save some money, but you’re far more likely to get and keep more loyal customers.
Step 3: Share proactive (as well as usual) updates. For a customer, nothing is worse than wondering how long something will take or whether you received their order or heard what they were trying to tell you. So even if you can’t necessarily respond right away, give them a strong sense that you are working on their request or feedback and when you will get back to them. Then follow through. This formula, though it seems simple, can often set you apart from your competitors.