Editor's note: This article appeared in the October 26, 2009, edition of Quirk's e-newsletter.

In this market, even the most loyal research company client is asking: Is there a cheaper option? Instead of (or in addition to) negotiating on price, research companies can take action to maintain healthy and productive relationships with current clients by appealing to the human side of business.
 
Here are 10 tips from business consultant and author Joe Calloway's book Becoming a Category of One on creating and strengthening customer loyalty and retention in a down economy without compromising the bottom line.

1. Take a big-picture approach. Demonstrate how your product or service can help them accomplish their big-picture, long-term goals.

2. Speak their language. Don't use your industry jargon, use theirs. Show them that you have a depth of understanding about their business that your competition just doesn't have.

3. Be a source of intelligence. Dedicate yourself to finding new information and insights that can help your customers succeed.

4. Know who the customer is today, not yesterday. Your customers constantly change. You have to know how to serve your customers' current needs, not their needs from a week or a month ago. Stay current on changes in your customers' situation.

5. Point out what an incredible deal they're getting. What are you doing for your customers that provides value, but that they may not know about? Let them know what you're doing that goes above and beyond the expected.

6. Make it the first six weeks again. The first six weeks of any relationship are magical. Everyone loves everyone. Gestures of appreciation are made on a regular basis. Then it starts to get old. We don't try as hard anymore to make a great impression. Go back to that first six weeks. Make it magical again.

7. Make them tell you how to be better. Don't ask your customers if they're happy. Ask them how you can be better. Make them tell you. They will appreciate that you are making the effort, and you will gain some information that can lock in loyalty.

8. Find out who's trying to break you up. Your competitors are always trying to steal your customers away. Find out what they're whispering in your customers' ears. Match or beat any value that your competition if offering. (That doesn't mean you have to beat their price. You just have to beat their value).

9. Continuously audit your easy-to-do-business-with factor. Look at every touchpoint you have with your customers, including Web site, telephone calls, invoices or anywhere else you interact with your customer, and see how you can be easier to do business with. It's the No. 1-rated factor in business-to-business buying decisions.

10. Have a face-to-face, heart-to-heart thank-you session. Don't discount the significance of expressing appreciation to your customers. Get in your car or on a plane, and tell them in person how very much you appreciate their business. It could prove to be your best insurance against defection to a competitor.