While it might be a poor turn of phrase to express it that way, repeat and referral business is so critical to the success of boutique high end AV dealers and integration dealers that it’s almost easy to take it for granted.

Except that taking that business for granted is the last thing you would ever want to do.

While the focus the business media takes may sometimes make it seem like loyalty is dead, nothing could be further from the truth. The bottom line is that if you take care of your clients, they will take care of you. In fact, I would strongly assert that Best Buy’s current financial woes are a direct result of them having only customers, but no actual clients. If nobody likes them, why would they shop there?

Exactly.

By now everyone knows the management trope that says that it costs less to retain an existing customer than it does to obtain a new one through marketing. Taking that one step further, it’s more effective to have your clients do your advertising for you than to pay for advertising yourself. And in order to do that you need work on your relationships and foster that loyalty.

So then, how do you do it?

First, forget about all the advice you get given about hosting wine and cheese customer appreciation nights, maintaining a blog or e-newsletter and other networking and business mastermind advice.

Do you really want clients that adore you? Do you want clients that don’t hesitate to recommend you to their friends, family and business acquaintances?

Just be there for them. That means listening to them when they’re talking, and making them happy; not just in terms of creating systems that excite them, but being there for them, taking care of them, and making their system or warranty problem vanish.

That almost goes without saying. But you can take it a step further.

Just call them.

Don’t call them as a sales call, just call them as what one of my old mentors termed a “Happy Call.” Just call them to see how they’re doing. Being proactive in reaching out is an under appreciated client management tool. While clients won’t hesitate to call you if they have a “big” problem, many won’t bother for minor quirks or glitches in their system.  It may bug them, but that small annoyance might never cross the threshold where they pick up the phone.

However, silence is not golden. Small annoyances might sink any hope of them giving you referral business from their friends and family.

If you call them out of the blue, at worst tell you about their minor issues, and you can easily get them taken care of, cementing their impression of you as a great company. The best-case scenario is that a friendly call reinforces your good relationship, and you catch them when either they’re in the mood to spend some money, or they know someone who does.

You’d be amazed how often that happens.

Put notes in your scheduling software to call clients out of the blue several months down the road, and systemize it like you do everything else in your business. Be genuine; be nice; take care of your clients.

Lee Distad is a rAVe columnist and freelance writer covering topics from CE to global business and finance in both print and online. Reach him at lee@ravepubs.