“Loyalty is when people are willing to turn down a better product or price to continue doing business with you”.

That’s a great quote from Simon Sinek. Write it on a post-it or somewhere visible to remind yourself through your journey.

If customers are unhappy, they’ll leave you for one of your competitors. If they’ve had a poor experience or been treated badly, some will go as far as making a scene on social media or leave a bad business review to warn others. The last thing any business needs after a blow to the wallet is a bruised ego.

Customer satisfaction is important to any business, but the earlier you are in the growth of your business, the more critical it is to ensure that your early customers are highly satisfied. When you sign up your first customer, that person represents 100 percent of your customer-base, so their opinion of your business, along with the next handful of customers matters greatly.

Think about your early customers and who these people are. If they’re still known to you, you should be proud that they had faith and were one of your earliest customers who backed you.

Here's a few ideas:

• Everyone likes to be told they are valued. Start by saying thanks to your loyal customers and be genuine about it.

• You could do something to recognise their loyalty – perhaps a gift, discount or a special offer just for them.

• If they’re still using your product or services, you could ask them to be a referral customer and/or to be featured in a published customer case study.