For many of us who are current and future business owners, I
am sharing with you below what I, as a customer, noticed is missing in customer
relations. Unless it is personal towards
me for everywhere I go, that someone singles me out for rude and sometimes
obnoxious behavior, then many of your businesses are headed for closure, or for
sure, a tremendous loss of valuable customers.
Today, from The Coveted Commandment, I would like to share with you 10
Do’s and Don’ts on how to show appreciation to your customers, guests, or clients as I
have observed from my own experience as a customer.
If you have been in business for any length of time, you may
have been able to stay in business for any number of reasons. Some reasons could be:
- You provide a great service for those who have a great need;
- You provide a needed service, that despite how poorly you treat customers, they have to use your product or service;
- You provide a meaningful service, but you inherited or picked up customers of a former business owner. In other words, customers do business with you because of a prior relationship that built good customer relations;
- Your business is seasonal and you are only providing your products for a limited time;
How ever long or how ever you do your business, I want to
believe that your business will always be successful. But there are some of you, as managers and
business owners, who are oblivious to either your business model or perhaps, you,
may not have one. In that case, you are
doing this customer a grave injustice. I believe that your business is headed
for early closure. It may not be this
year, or next year, but the signs are there to me. Where is that initial sign? When I walk through the door. So it is just a matter of time. Mark my words.
I can only imagine, that if everyday, as a manager that when
you report to work, or that when you open your doors for business, you want to
thank me, in general, for entering your operation. I can only imagine that if I enter your place
of business, that if I shop in your place of business, that you appreciate not
only my spending money in your operation, but that you appreciate me,
specifically. Now, maybe that’s not
apart of your business model. That may
not be why you are successful, today.
But, for what it is worth, I have witnessed major corporations change
their business models to meet customer expectations that they once overlooked. I hope this small, but insignificant reminder
gets to you in time.
I have watched some of the most successful businesses either
change their business model, or loose customers. I have watched hospitals, drugstores,
department stores, grocery stores, gas stations, and cosmetic companies change to
meet customer expectation, or go out of business because of customers like me. Why me?
Because I spend my hard-earned money where I am appreciated, or I go
somewhere else. I am not going to be
ignored. (See Building
What I have witnessed, Mr. or Ms. Business Owner, however
successful your operation may be, is three types of businesses that have either
survived or failed. They were:
- Those businesses who were on the front end of change, and lead the way and either remained successful, or were able to become successful;
- Those businesses who played it as close to the vest as possible, choosing to make only enough changes to follow the lead of those businesses who were making greater sacrifices, and as such may have benefited from their lead, or fell by the way side because they did not want to invest enough in their businesses to change for the future. Last, but not least,
- Those businesses who believed that change was not something that they needed to do. Those businesses for example who thought that fax machines weren’t for them, or the internet. Those businesses that believed that they did not need new trucks, or new computers, or computers at all. Those businesses eventually either closed down, or had to remake themselves, and spend the time catching up.
Whatever business you are in, know
that the above three examples are ongoing.
Everyday, there is a business that sees the importance of doing what it
takes to keep a customer, and puts forth the extra effort to make sure that
they keep that customer, happy and satisfied.
But even with those businesses that fit in category A above, they never
get away from the basics. No matter what
technological gadgetry or nuance they acquire, or install, those businesses
remember why they are in business. Yes,
to make money, but to also build wealth.
And one important way to build wealth is through people. And the important ingredient is to interact
with people, talk to people, thank people, and to remember how important people
are to your business. Below are my do’s
and don’ts for customer service. I don’t
care if you don’t have a computer in your business. I don’t care if you don’t have new trucks,
but at least, give me the time of day when I walk in your operation. Make me feel like I am the best thing
walking.
When I call your business on the
phone, I want you to make my day, (I owe you Dirty Harry). Why?
Because I want to spend a $1.00 in your business. Why?
Because I want to buy a case of something in your business. Why?
Because I want the name of your business on my lips when someone asks me
do I know someone or some business that makes widgets, and guess whose name I
am going to call? Not yours! Especially if you don’t make me feel like the
best thing since slice bread. Can you
handle that Mr. and Ms. Business Owner?
Because if you can’t, someone up the street, or down the street don’t
have a problem making me feel like I just landed on Pensacola Beach
Here are my do’s and don’ts for
customer service. If you have heard these
before, and you are not following these do’s and don’ts, check your
receipts. Check your invoices. If you are doing the same amount of business
today that you were doing 3 months ago, or 3 years ago, then maybe, with all
that you have done to improve your business, maybe these Do’s and Don’ts may
help you to improve your business.
Don’ts
- Don’t
greet a customer at the door (Let
them walk in and wonder if someone works in your place of business. They may even leave because they think
the place is empty)
- Don’t
thank them for their business (Many
employees are trained to say thank you to customers. For some reason, thanking a customer is
not in today’s employee’s pay grade.
You maybe loosing customer at this very critical moment)
- Don’t
have what the customer wants in a business dedicated to their needs (If you are electronics store and don’t
have MP3’s or joysticks, it’s not the end of the world. But if you are not asking customers how
you can help them, you will never capture them. If you don’t have it, order it for them,
overnight if it will keep them as customer. Then stock up on that item because that
customer is about to bring a cavalry of customers)
- Don’t
get offended when customers complain (As a business operator, you want
customers to complain. You want
them to tell you what’s on their mind.
And you want to be able to respond in a way that wins that customer
over. I have witnesses some of the
best managers win the most outraged customers over because they listened,
offered them a cup of coffee, soft drink, a free something, and asked that
outraged customer to come back, to give them (manager) another chance to
win their business. It is not
rocket science, it is business art, because customers, like me, want to
believe that you want my business).
- Don’t forget to offer options when customers’ needs aren’t met (To compliment #3 and #4 above, you will never know how much business you may have lost when a customer walks out of your business empty-handed. You will never have a clue if you never greeted that customer and asked them a simple $1.50 question: “How can I help you?” If a customer walked out of your store, your place of business and no one so much as sneezed on them, you are basically closed for business. You will have that one customer for whom you don’t have what they want, and it is that point in time, you are in fantastic position to capture not only their dollar that day, but a long time to come. Here is a good $5.00 question: “Can I help you find what you are looking for?”)
Do’s
- Do
follow up with customer satisfaction (When
I worked at a rent-to-own store, nothing impressed me more than when I saw
my manager ask a question about something that customers complained about
2 months prior. The customers
always seemed impressed. It was
another great opportunity to ensure that more dollars would be coming in).
- Do
make sure employees are friendly and respectful (Employees are usually the lowest paid. They have things on their minds besides
your business. If something goes
wrong they are going to be blamed, fussed at, or docked their time, often
for something that is more minor than what you require of them with a
greater emphasis: Customer
Service. If you are fussing at your
employees, treating them like they work for you, instead of with you, the
first place to suffer will be your customer service. Maybe your employees can’t stand
toe-to-toe with you, but your customers are not going to get friendly
service. Your customers are going
to get exactly what they ask for, or even less. It is a vital balance between correcting
employees and ensuring a positive workplace, but anything that affects
customer’s interaction, including the attitudes of your employees, is
money going out the door. Maybe
your customer won’t order that cheese with those fries, or won’t order a
large drink, or a drink at all, because you made your employees feel like
crap before they greeted customers.
That’s a shoot yourself in the foot move if ever I saw one. Help your employees be friendly and
respectful to customers, and to each other)
- Do
open on time (Whether you open at 5,
6 or 10a.m., customers plan a lot around your opening. Even if they only come to your operation
once a week, or once a month, being opened on time, and greeting customers
increases the likelihood dollars
spent in your operation. Even if by
phone, not answering the phone at the time in which you are supposed to be
opened is asking for your customers to choose your competitors).
- Do
make time to show customers what they can’t find (I have been to stores where as often as I shop there, something
has been moved around. If I try to
ask for help, the help avoids me like the plaque. They don’t make eye contact, or try to
walk past you, especially if you have the deer in the headlight thing
going. I thought everyone
recognized that look. I do give
credit to Home Depot[2],
they are pretty good about that.
But for the most part, Wal-Mart[3]
seemed to have invented the idea of helping customers find that which they
can’t find. Whether your operation
is a big boxy one, or your system has been newly configured, customers need
to feel like they are welcomed, and that they are not being trapped, or
even that they are not supposed to find what they are looking for. I know for me, it could be more
frustrating if I think you, as a business, are trying to keep me in order
to get me to spend more. For me, it
could have the opposite effect.
Please have some on standby to assist me as I need it).
- Do remember why you went into business in the first place (to build wealth).
In Conclusion
I shared all of the above information not because I had
something new to share, but because I find that as basic as much of this
information is, many businesses either don’t think that I am important enough
to greet at the door, or to ask me if I need help. Or worse yet, how they treat
me is the same way that they treat other customers who want to do business with
them. As paranoid as I maybe, and
believe that its always about me, I am going to go out on a limb and say that
much of the customer service that I have received, or have not received, is the
norm for all customers in certain businesses.
I can only hope that I am wrong, but hopefully, you are working to prove
me wrong, on both accounts. Don’t forget
why you went into business. Building
wealth as Mr. & Ms. Business Owner, your key to building wealth is through
your customers, clients, or guests. How
you get there will be measured by how much your customers continue to do
business with you. Best wishes, and
remember The Coveted Commandment: Thou
Shalt Build Wealth.
[1] Building
Principles for the Coveted Commandment © 2013 by Wayne Dan Lewis http://thecovetedcommandment.blogspot.com/2013/01/building-principles-for-the-coveted.html
[2] Home
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