In this post at Brand Autopsy, John Moore reviews a Harvard Business Review article, "The One Number You Need to Grow," penned by Frederick Reichheld.

Reichheld’s research indicates that there is a strong correlation between a company’s growth rate and the percentage of it’s customers who are willing to recommend the company to a friend.

Moore quotes Reichheld, "You only have to ask your customers one question: How likely is it that you would recommend [company x] to a friend or a colleague." Do you ask you clients that question?

See my other posts on building customer relationships here, here, here, and here.