Unusual responses do not catch you off guard. You may be able to anticipate problems that your customers or suppliers will be having and respond more quickly. In short, businesses that have successfully built relationships with their customers and suppliers are now better positioned and able to understand and meet the special needs of those people and those organizations. If you have not, it's never too late to start. Because of your unique view of your customer, you will occasionally be able to anticipate their problems before they know they have them.
Business is people, and people do business with the people they like and trust.
This is also how relationships are built. Trust and confidence are both built over time through experience. Relationships allow you to build a confidence in your products or services that will keep customers coming back. Retention of key customers is the most stable way of achieving long-term business growth. Continue to focus on relationship building, especially in these uncertain times, to emerge from the storm ahead of the pack.