Your #1 lost opportunity may not be what you think. It isn't a market you were late to target, a product released without certain features, or even a ridiculously small sales and marketing budget. I know, these are BIG in the "lost opportunity" category. So, you can see that if these still don't rank first, the #1 spot must be a big one. It is. But it is also a no-brainer you might be embarrassed you've missed.

Sales and marketing's #1 lost opportunity involves your own customer pool. We all know by now that it costs 6-8 times more to sell to a new customer than an existing one. Yet, our sales and marketing budgets are heavily weighted toward new customer acquisition. And when you launch new products, don't you usually launch them to the "market" before or at the same time as your own customers? We are not saying you shouldn't invest in new customers. BUT, we are saying you should also have distinct and specific plans for building customer loyalty.

Do YOU?

Here are three quick areas to focus on in building customer loyalty in your sales and marketing plans:

• Product Awareness. It is likely that only 30% of your customers are aware of everything you have to offer. Most know about what they have purchased and that's all. We've surveyed the customers of many of our clients and we've never reached a number higher than 30% full product awareness. Make a concerted effort to schedule time with each of your current customers to present other products (cross-sell) or upgrades (up-sell) that they may have interest in. AND, above all else...release company announcements (i.e. new product or service offerings) to your existing customers BEFORE you launch them to the rest of the market.

• Customer Service. Create a service level "agreement" with your customers that shows your level of commitment. What is your response time to customer requests? It should be within 24 hours. How accessible is your customer service team? Does your service tone always come from a point of "empathy."

Use a customer satisfaction survey to find out how well you're doing. Send one to active customers every 3-months...or at least once a year. Only 4% of your dissatisfied customers will actively complain....so by asking "how you're doing" you can get to more of the 96% who don't complain, but are not completely satisfied. Study the results and take them to heart. DO something about the negative and use the positive in your marketing efforts to acquire new customers.

• Communication. Determine a schedule and the vehicles you will use to regularly communicate with customers. Launch a customer newsletter that contains helpful/useful information. Consider a quarterly contact with your active customers from an executive in your organization not usually in the "customer circle" (president, product director, etc.). Send a handwritten "thank you" note for an especially nice sized order. If you haven't already, pull a list of all customers (active and inactive) from the last two years and contact them!

Customer Loyalty programs can be quite a bit more involved, but if you focus on these three areas, you will be well on your way to maximizing your greatest opportunity—your customer!