Business Owners: How Are You Staying in Touch?

As a marketing consultant, one of the first questions I ask business owners is: "How are you staying in touch with your customers?" Unfortunately, what I've learned is that most business owners aren't staying in touch with their customers at all!
Why You Should Stay in Touch
The reason you should stay in touch with your customers is simple:they're the ones giving you money!
Here are 3 specific reasons why you should keep in touch:
Reason #1: Because Existing Customers Are the Best Kind of Customer
It is much easier to re-sell to your existing customers than it is to acquire fresh new customers. And if you regularly communicate with your customers, they'll be more likely to continue doing business with you.
Keep in mind that many of your customers often aren't aware of all of the various products and services you offer. As you stay in touch, you can educate them about your full product/service offering or expertise.
Reason #2: To Prevent "Lost" Customers
Staying in touch is also a great way to show that you appreciate your relationship with your customers. There are several reasons why customers will stop doing business with you. They may have had a negative experience. They may have found a better value elsewhere (e.g. lower priced competitor).
However, most of the time, customers leave your business because they feel ignored or unappreciated. You can prevent losing customers for this reason by communicating with them more frequently.
Reason #3: To Get More Referrals
Finally, an additional benefit of staying in touch with your customers is that they'll be more likely to refer you because you'll remain top-of-mind.
How to Stay in Touch
What's the best way to stay in touch? You can - and should - use a variety of media to communicate so you stay top of mind.
Phone: Picking up the phone is the most personable way of keeping in touch, because you'll have your customer's undivided attention. We recommend using the phone to touch base with your best customers and clients. The obvious downside of the phone is that it's a 1-to-1 communication medium, so it's not scalable.
Direct mail: Postcards, greeting cards, letters and print newsletters allow you to gain more mindshare than email. Hand-written notes, in particular, provide a special personal touch in this increasing online world.
Email newsletters: Email newsletters are a pretty inexpensive way to keep in touch. If you're not doing anything to keep in touch, this is a good place to start because of the relatively low investment required.
Social media: Facebook and Twitter can be effective means of staying in touch, but only if your audience is active in those channels. If your target market isn't active on social media sites, then it's