Building customer loyalty

Nation's Business, August, 1997 by Mary Y. McElveen

We usually know why we return to one business rather than another. Generally, it has to do with service. But what makes a business' service so special that it keeps us coming back, even if the establishment doesn't offer the lowest price?

In reporting "Ties That Bind," this month's cover story, Senior Editor Mike Barrier sought the answer not from repeat customers but from entrepreneurs who have proved adept at winning business for the long term.

Mike is shown in the photo above at one of his favorite neighborhood establishments, Sonny's Cleaners, on Gibbon Street in the Old Town section of Alexandria, Va. Belynda Wimbish, the manager for 14 years, is one reason Mike returns. She's not only "friendly and cheerful, but also very knowledgeable. Sonny's does excellent work, but if there's a problem that it can't solve, Belynda explains clearly why."

Knowledge is one of many ingredients of good service. In Mike's story, beginning on Page 12, you'll discover other ways, too, in which entrepreneurs have built a loyal clientele.

Although our Making It section, starting on Page 56, has been shifted to a new location in the magazine, it continues to offer profiles of entrepreneurs on their way up.

Among the business owners featured this month are Marty and Helen Shih (in the photo at left), a brother and sister who came to the United States from Taiwan and have built an unusual service business. We hope our readers draw insight from the Shihs' experiences and those of the other entrepreneurs we feature in this section and throughout the magazine.