Don't let your customers slip through the cracks

Last week I was looking at my schedule and it showed that all four of my boys had appointments coming up soon to have their teeth cleaned. That got me thinking. I couldn't remember when last I'd had my own teeth cleaned but I figured it was probably at least 8 - 10 months. So I called up the dentist's office to get an appointment. I sure was surprised! According to their records, the last cleaning I had was May of 2007! So I quickly scheduled an appointment for next week.
 
As a marketer, the thing that struck me was how easily the dentist's office let me slip through the cracks. I mean, they have a computer system that they know exactly when I was in there last, they know I need to have a cleaning every 6 months, yet I never got a phone call or a reminder post card or anything! And I've been in there every 6 months with my kids, it's not like they don't know if I'm still living here or gone to a different dentist!
 
My point is never assume that your current customers know where to find you and they will come back to you on their own. We've got to help people, constantly stay in touch with them, make it easy for them to buy. If you have a product or service that people need to use repeatedly, you'd better be reminding them when it's time to buy again. My dentist missed out on 6 cleanings (at $170 apiece that's $1020) because he didn't make six phone calls or spend $2.64 in postage!