"Triple shots?"
Bob nodded and the owner, John gets busy preparing his drink.
A little chat and the drink is ready. Bob pays for it and goes off.
Another day, another regular customer.
One Friday morning, it was raining so heavily and the areas near the cafe was flooded. Bob didn't come in. And so did Jane, Simon and Andy. John wonders how badly his business is going to be hit.
Cafe is closed for the weekend as it's located in the business district.
On Monday morning, John gets ready to welcome his regulars. 7am, Bob did not turn up. 7:15am, 7:30am... Maybe Bob is on leave, John murmured to himself.
The same thing happens for the next few days. Could Bob be on long leave? Or did he move office? John sent a message to Bob on Facebook. But there's no reply. John wondered if the worst could have happened.
One week later, Tim, John's part-time staff, came and said, "Boss, guess who I saw today?"
"Who?" John asked.
"Bob"
"Oh. Where did you see him?"
"At the new cafe two blocks away."
That's when John realized his regular has left him for another cafe.
How many times have you encounter such situation? Regulars who have been with you for a long time suddenly stop doing business with you? Aren't they happy with you? Otherwise, they wouldn't have stick with you for so long. Did you do anything wrong? Is it because you decided to charge for plain water?
One of the mistakes that business owners make is to take their regular customers as granted. They assume the regular will stay with them as long as customers get what they offers. Until another competitor comes along and steal the customers away with something better, faster or cheaper.
But being slightly better, faster and cheaper is not the long term solution for businesses.
A lot of business owners NEVER FOLLOW UP with their customers.
You buy this, that's it. I'm not going to bother if you can use it or if it's suitable to solve your problem. Call me only if there's problem, or better still solve it yourself. Anyway, I've got your money.
Now, at the new cafe, apart from getting his coffee fix, Bob receives thank you card from the cafe owner for patronizing. He receives call from the cafe about special offers and emails to get his feedback.