This is part six in a series on building a successful business - if you missed the start you can catch up here.

Step number five is making sure that the way that you deliver your product is so good that your customers come back for more. And tell their friends.

There are two things about business that seem obvious, but people often forget.

The first is that it's easier to sell to someone with whom you've already got a relationship.

Want a second gold-painted frog? Well, I'm obviously going to go back to the fantastic people I got the first one from.

The second is that word-of-mouth recommendation is far more powerful than any advertising campaign.

Oh, you're looking for a gold-painted frog? The people we got ours from were so helpful and the frog is just outstanding.

Make sure your delivery process is slick and efficient. Make sure that your procedures for dealing with mistakes (because they will happen) is even more slick and efficient. Follow up with your customers, stay in touch. Find out what they think. Become a trusted advisor to them when dealing with other amphibians.

Because this feeds back on Step 2. If you know that the first frog-sale is likely to lead to at least ten repeat purchases, you know that actually it’s worth spending a bit more on advertising to get that new customer. Work out your customer’s life-time value as that’s the figure that counts.

Take action: What is your delivery process? What is your complaints procedure? How do you stay in touch with existing customers? How do you get them to recommend you to their friends?

PS: If know someone you feel might want a bit of help with this stuff, send them here