Do you know how much your current customers are worth to your company? In recent years, research has found that a 5 percent increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25 to 95 percent.

One of the greatest problems a business can encounter is a revolving door of customers. The cost to constantly replace those customers will starve a company quickly and leave it for dead.

We know that satisfied customers have a direct impact on your bottom line, which means that every business had better have a strategy for courting its current customers.

At McLellan Marketing Group, we call that creating a love affair with your customers. Here are some tips on how to woo those who keep your business in healthy shape.

Stay in touch: One of the bits of magic that Facebook has gotten right is that it’s a tool for staying in touch. People who haven’t talked to each other in years are suddenly seeing status updates and getting likes and comments from those long-lost relationships. Within weeks, they feel a completely different level of connection. Did they have a big heart-to-heart conversation? Nope. Did they spend a weekend together, rediscovering their friendship? Of course not.

But when you’re in regular communication with someone, a sense of greater intimacy is created and – truth be told – over time, becomes real.

You need to create regular ways to stay connected with your best customers. And it shouldn’t be a sales piece. People don’t feel close to businesses that just sell to them all the time.

Give them the inside scoop: People love exclusivity. We like to belong to private groups, earn insider perks and know things that most people don’t know yet. Underneath all of that is a simple truth. We all like to feel special. And we certainly want to think we’re special to the people we regularly do business with.

If you create some sort of exclusive offering (early-bird hours, a free report that has great value, an educational event just for clients, etc.) then be sure they know that it is just for them. And honor that promise. The minute you make it something that just anyone can access, it loses all value.

Even better than just giving your customers something exclusive, give them something exclusive they can share. Don’t just bring in a big-name speaker for them to enjoy. Give them a guest ticket, so they can share their spotlight. Birds of a feather flock together. Hopefully your best customers will bring your best prospects, if they’re given the opportunity.

Work for people you love: It’s a whole lot easier to make people feel special and to woo them if you actually like them. Flip through your current list of customers and pick out the 10 that you enjoy working with the most. Make a list of the attributes those best clients share.

Then, interview (or hire a third party to do so) those best customers and find out what attracted them to doing business with you in the first place. Also find out why they stick around.

Then put together a plan to attract that same sort of prospect. Just like you’d concoct a special brew to put into your tube feeders to attract songbirds, now that you know exactly what kind of customer you’re trying to attract, you’ll know how to make that happen.

Your clients may not be Johnny Depp or Julia Roberts, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat them like the VIPs they are. Because when it comes to your bottom line, they’re very important indeed!