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So you just finished a job for a very nice customer who treated you graciously, paid you promptly, and raved about the quality of your work. He or she is the kind of person that you’d like to do business with again, but the great work you performed is just about all you can do to assure they’ll call you back next time they have a need, right? Wrongo, buddy!
For starters, you should promptly send them a thank you letter, no matter how many times you said “thank you” to their face. It amazes me how few contractors actually do this. People LOVE getting thank you letters in the mail! It makes them feel like you truly appreciated them because you took the extra time to express your gratitude on paper. Some people will feel slighted if you DON’T send a thank you card, especially if it was a major remodel or project. How would you feel if you spent $35,000 on something and received absolutely no kind of thank you in the mail whatsoever? It may sound petty, but the fact that they didn’t receive a card or note from you might make them feel unappreciated enough to take their business someplace else the next time they need major work done around their house. Are you willing to lose a several thousand dollar job down the road from a great customer just because you were too cheap or busy to print out and mail a simple “thank you”? If you’re not the articulate type, have your wife/husband or secretary type it up for you and just sign it at the bottom; it’s better than nothing at all! Included with the letter should be a few more construction business cards that they can hand out to friends. Some contractors will even send a gift to big-project customers, and I’ll leave that up to your personal preferences, but it should be self-evident that the “louder” your thank you, the better your chances of repeat business.
You should also make a constant effort to stay on previous customers’ minds, because you’ll find that doing so is much cheaper than acquiring new ones. The cheapest method is to keep a database of client email addresses so that you can send them a quarterly 
newsletter via the internet. Each “e-newsletter” should contain updates about new services you might offer, new skills or equipment you might have acquired, and/or special coupons or discounts for repeat customers. What matters most is not what is in the newsletter, but simply that you send it. Staying on your customer’s mind is vitally important, and might help to accelerate that home improvement job that they really want to do but keep putting off. For those that don’t want to give their email out, just mail the newsletter to them. Yes, it’s an added cost for you, but it’s a heckuva lot cheaper than trying to win a brand new customer. And keep in mind that even though they might not need your services again down the road, your diligence in staying on their radar will encourage them to talk up your business to their friends and family who do have a need, resulting in lots of free construction leads. Say it with me: “referrals, referrals, referrals”. Becoming a contractor that makes real money involves marketing savvy and tenaciousness. You must learn to be aggressive.
Of course all of this is meaningless if you perform lousy workmanship, but even fast-growing and successful businesses that provide a quality product can substantially accelerate their growth and profits by simply taking these few extra steps to show appreciation and to occasionally remind the customer just how happy they were with your work.
My name is Jeff and I created this blog in 2007 to help and inspire contractors and home service providers. It’s come a long way since then.