The most important aspect of your business isn't your product or service; it's your people - your employees, co-workers and customers. That can be easy to forget. You get so wrapped up in producing your product just so and marketing your service to drive customers in the door, but then what? What you do with those customers once they are in the door is just as important as what you do to drive customers to your door. How your employees or co-workers treat customers is just as important, if not more important than a defect-free product.

Read on for pointers on how to treat "your people" that will keep customers coming back for more:

Your customer service is only as good as your customer service employees. If your customer service employees are your lowest-paying employees, with no benefits and no positive feedback, they'll show their unhappiness through their interactions with your customers. Expect your employees to treat your customers like you treat your employees.

Get to know your customers. The gym I belong to shows me that they know me. The manager says hi, and asks how many miles I'm going to run that day. He pays attention, he knows about me. That makes me feel cared for, and that someone would notice if I didn't show up. Get to know your customers by name. Ask them what they do for a living - get their business card and give them yours. By establishing a relationship, people will come back to your on pure loyalty. Use color business card printing techniques so your cards will be memorable.

Do something extra. Handwrite a thank-you note in your customer's pre-ordered package. Ask for birth dates and send a birthday card when the time comes. Keep in touch with your customers and show that you care and want them to be happy. If you manufacture or start carrying a new product you know certain customers would be interested in, send them a catalog with the new product circled and a little note about how you thought they would be interested.

Train employees to handle customer complaints or irate customers. Tell your employees what to say and do when handling an upset customer. Create a manual that has samples of customer complaints and guidelines on how to handle those customers. Teach them how to change a customer's bad experience into a pleasurable one.

Ask your customers for their opinion. This could be as simple as a comment card by the register that they take with them that they can drop in the mail without postage. You could also email or mail a survey to them. Or, you can informally chat with them and note any complaints or suggestions they have. Ask what you could do better and what they would change about your business. Then use that insight to make your customers' experiences better.

The bottom line is to make your customers feel valued and appreciated. People don't get that enough in life nowadays, so they'll gravitate toward it wherever they get it!