Great article in this month’s Inc. magazine from Sam Calagione in The Way I Work series. Sam is the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery (which makes some very fine beer, lemme tell ya!). Sam gives a rundown of his day to day including his email habits. He tries to answer all of his email but knows that he can’t get to them all. Of this he said, “I didn’t answer [someone’s] email, and as far as that guys knows, it’s because I’m an asshole.” Sam’s intention is to let people know they’ve been heard, that he cares.

It’s not that hard to communicate caring. Follow through is all it takes. Making sure emails are answered, phone calls returned, and that commitments are honored in a timely way. Whenever I hear someone talk about a business not caring, almost every time it’s lack of follow through that has communicated that the customer doesn’t matter much. But being mindful of following through even when none is expected is the best way of showing that you really care.

In the end, the simplest way to get customer loyalty is to demonstrate caring. One on one, one person at a time, faithfully following through.