The Finish Line is the Starting Line.

Great businesses don’t let the interaction end at the sale.

The individual that served me at Nordstrom sends me a thank you note a month after I purchased a pair of jeans. Apple asks me to come into the store so they can show me a few new things on the iPhone 4S. The Peninsula Hotel set the bar for me in what service is when I stayed there, and last week they asked me to come back again for two nights – one of which is free.

You wouldn’t tell your wife you love her once and then never again. And you would not offer to serve her on your honeymoon and then never again. For a relationship to thrive it must continually give words of gratitude and offer to serve.

In my industry the market is down, yet I’m having the best year of my career. Out of 93 homes I’ve personally sold Y.T.D, 57 of them were transactions with someone I’ve done business with before, consider a friend, or a friend referred them to me. Or to put this another way, 61% of my business this year was relationship based. Facebook didn’t do it, Twitter didn’t do it, billboards didn’t do it, and television didn’t do it. People either came back because transaction #1 went well, or people came because someone told them their transcation #1, #2,  or #3 went well with me.

Next time your customer swipes his/her credit card for what you provided, remind yourself that the relationship is not over…its just beginning.

You will build a world-changing businesses when it is built on relationships that serve in response to gratitude.

PS – I’ve read a couple great books that go into more detail on this –  Thank You Economy and Tribes.