Satisfy the customer. The customer is always right. Make your customers "customers for life." These phrases have been uttered so often by retail owners that you begin to wonder if anyone is paying attention anymore. The phrases may be old, but the basis for their existence hasn't changed a bit. Every customer counts. Every retail store needs its customers to return to shop with them again and refer other shoppers as well.

But with hundreds or thousands of shoppers in a week passing through stores, salespeople typically view the loss of one customer as the loss of a single transaction rather than the loss of a lifetime of purchases from that single dissatisfied customer. Most companies will hear complaints from 4% of its dissatisfied customers while 96% will quietly walk away. 91% will never return. It's not just a matter of the $50 you didn't collect today; it's the thousands of dollars you won't collect in the years to follow.

The loss of one customer can also impact the potential sales from other customers as well. Every store has a limited marketplace with a certain number of customers. Every customer who leaves a store with a negative impression may influence the loyalty of current customers or the potential for patronage by new customers.

Consider the following statistics: Dissatisfied customers will tell 8-10 people about their problem. One in five will tell 20 people. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one negative incident. Yet, a highly satisfied customer is six times more likely to repurchase, refer and crossbuy than a satisfied one.

Those statistics speak for themselves. Satisfied customers are the most effective and least expensive advertising a retail store can hope for. But a steady stream of disgruntled customers can gradually weaken the reputation of a retail store and decrease the market of potential customers. Great selection or prices may never compensate for the loss. In a sense, the fate of the store lies in the hands of the salespeople. The lesson is simple: do whatever it takes to satisfy customers, whether they purchase or not.