Of course you must have that too. Is it their loyalty program? Ok, that one is way down the list, but helpful as long as all the other more vital things are in place.

So what is secret to long lasting, profitable relationships with customers? Trust. If your customers don't feel that they can trust you, then your relationship with your customers will be short lived.

There are many factors contributing to a solid relationship with your customers, but if they don't feel they can trust you, you are headed for a lot of extra selling. In this era of uber customer service training, ‘How can I make your day fantastic?’, or ‘have I answered all your questions?’,  or ‘when you get a survey about the service you got today, please rate me a 5’,  and numerous other irritating nonsense, does any of that drivel make you trust your vendor more?

If you're like me, it just makes me feel patronized, which is a form of deceit, so no, it doesn't make me trust more.   Honest, truthful ,straight ahead service will get you much father with your customers. Does that mean they will give you all their business? Of course not. However, as long as you are competitive and have good product, you will most likely get a big piece of it. Also, when they have a high priority deal, who are they going to call, the company they trust, or one of the others? Sometimes telling the truth costs you an order, but it saves a relationship.

I know how strong the motivation is to be unrealistically optimistic in order to get an order. The problem is, you are playing with fire. If things go wrong, you are done. It's a little like your spouse not telling you the whole truth about something, and you find out later. It can be the beginning of the end. Trust, trust, trust. Make sure it is at the top of your list of values.