By Ric Rooney, Sun Spot Atlantis

Since I started in this business way back in 1991, current technology has given us some fantastic new tools to reach potential customers and keep in touch with current ones. Smartphones, websites, text messaging and social media platforms — it’s enough to give an old guy like me a headache trying to keep up with it all!

But my favorite tool for customer relations? Old-fashioned email. Here’s why: It’s the only format that lets my personality shine through and allows me to connect with my customers over time at a much deeper level. Social media tools are kind of like dating. It’s the flirting stage of a relationship that includes quick, impressionable interactions, but at a superficial level.

These tools are all important building blocks for your business. However, if your goal is long-term customer retention, then you have to give them more than an occasional wink. You have to give them a reason to keep coming back to you year after year instead of your competitor. Otherwise, you’re nothing more than the latest Groupon “Deal of the Day.”

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.