Marketing priority No. 1: Hold on to your customers

I was out buying a bike for my son’s birthday over the weekend, and I was planning on going to the same store where I bought all the bikes in our family: Bike Doctor of Crofton. The shop is one of eight independently owned Bike Doctor franchises throughout Maryland. (The headquarters is in Arnold.) One of the incentives the shop offers is a “trade-up” program on children’s bikes that you buy from them. As children grow out of their bikes, you can trade-up and get money towards bigger bikes.

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On my way to Crofton, though, I decided to check out a bike shop a little closer to my house in Annapolis. I asked the owner if he offers a similar incentive as Crofton Bike Doctor. He told me no and gave me reasons why (liability, warranty, squirrels, blah, blah…), so I walked out the door and headed to Crofton.

Later, while I was buying my son’s bike at Crofton Bike Doctor...

Read the rest in The Washington Business Journal