| The People aspect of business is really
what it is all about.
Rule #1: Think of customers as individuals.
Once we think that way, we realize our business is our
customer, not our product or services. Putting all the focus on the merchandise in our
store, or the services our corporation offers, leaves out the most important component:
each individual customer.
Keeping those individual customers in mind, here are some
easy, down-home steps-to-remember when you want to keep ’em coming back!
1. Remember there is no way that the quality of customer
service can exceed the quality of the people who provide it.
Think you can get by paying the lowest wage, giving the
fewest of benefits, doing the least training for your employees? It will show. Companies
don’t help customers….people do.
2. Realize that your people will treat your customer the
way they are treated.
Employees take their cue from management. Do you greet your
employees enthusiastically each day; are you polite in your dealings with them; do you try
to accommodate their requests; do you listen to them when they speak? Consistent rude
service is a reflection not as much on the employee as on management.
3. Do you know who your customers are?
If a regular customer came in to your facility, would you
recognize them? Could you call them by name? All of us like to feel important; calling
someone by name is a simple way to do it and lets them know you value them as customers.
Recently I signed on with a new fitness center. I had been a member of another one for the
past ten years, renewing my membership every 6 months when the notice arrived. I had been
thinking about changing, joining the one nearer my home and with more state-of-the-art
equipment. So when the renewal notice came, I didn’t renew. That was 8 months ago.
Was I contacted by the fitness center and asked why I did not renew? Did anyone telephone
me to find out why an established customer was no longer a member or to tell me they
missed me? No and No. My guess is they don’t even know they lost a long-time
customer, and apparently wouldn’t care.
4. Do your customers know who you are?
If they see you, would they recognize you? Could they call
you by name? A visible management is an asset. At the Piccadilly Cafeteria chain, the
pictures of the manager and the assistant manager are posted on a wall at the food
selection line and it is a policy that the manager’s office is placed only a few feet
from the cashier’s stand at the end of that line, in full view of the customers, and
with the door kept open. The manager is easily accessible and there is no doubt about
“who’s in charge here”. You have only to beckon to get a manager at your
table to talk with you.
5. Go the extra mile.
Include a thank-you note in a customer’s package; send
a birthday card; clip the article when you see their name or photo in print; write a
congratulatory note when they get a promotion. There are all sorts of ways for you to keep
in touch with your customers and bring them closer to you.
6. Are your customers greeted when they walk in the door
or at least within 30-40 seconds upon entering?
Is it possible they could come in, look around, and go out
without ever having their presence acknowledged? It is ironic it took a discount merchant
known for price, not service, to teach the retail world the importance of greeting
customers at the door. Could it be that’s because Sam Walton knew this simple but
important gesture is a matter of respect, of saying “we appreciate your coming
in,” having nothing to do with the price of merchandise?
7. Give customers the benefit of the doubt.
Proving to him why he’s wrong and you’re right
isn’t worth losing a customer over. You will never win an argument with a customer,
and you should never, ever put a customer in that position.
8. If a customer makes a request for something special, do
everything you can to say Yes.
The fact that a customer cared enough to ask is all you
need to know in trying to accommodate her. It may be an exception from your policy, but
(if it isn’t illegal) try to do it. Remember you are just making one exception for
one customer, not making new policy. Mr. Marshall Field was right-on in his famous
statement: “Give the lady what she wants.”
9. Are your associates properly trained in how to handle a
customer complaint or an irate person?
Give them guidelines for what to say and do in every
conceivable case. People on the frontline of a situation play the most critical role in
your customer’s experience. Make sure they know what to do and say to make that
customer’s experience a positive, pleasant one.
10. Want to know what your customers think of your
company?
Ask them! Compose a “How’re We Doing?” card
and leave it at the exit or register stand, or include it in their next statement. Keep it
short and simple. Ask things like: what it is they like; what they don’t like; what
they would change; what you could do better; about their latest experience there, etc. To
ensure the customer sends it in: have it pre-stamped. And if the customer has given their
name and address, be sure to acknowledge receipt of the card.
Remember that the big money isn’t as much in winning
customers as in keeping customers. Each individual customer’s perception of your
company will determine how well you do this. |
