At some level we’re all grateful for our customers. Because we know without them we would not have a business.
And, with busy schedules and hectic lives, it’s easy to forget how important our customers are. It’s even easier to forget to show it. And it’s easy to discount or disregard any one customer. Because most customers, by themselves, are not going to make or break our business.
But every customer is a person. And one thing people want most is to be appreciated. We like people to notice us and recognize that we’ve been here before. It’s nice to hear someone say “I know you could take your business elsewhere and I appreciate you sticking with us.” (How often do you hear that? How often do you SAY that?)
If you do this for every customer you have, every time they do business with you, your company will stand out from the crowd. People notice little things like being appreciated. And, all else being equal, customers will reward such little things by choosing to do business with your company rather than your competition.
So, there are several levels of being grateful for our customers. One is simply appreciating them as people, fulfilling their need to be appreciated.
The other is having the right attitude. This means adopting a mindset that says:
1. I understand my customers have made a choice to be here – NOT somewhere else.
2. Without my customers I would not have a job or a paycheck.
3. Therefore I need to show my appreciation to every customer every time I work with them.
If every employee in your company recited these three things every day before they started work, would they treat customers differently? How would that affect your business?
What if management made this attitude part of the company’s values. How might that change the way people deal with customers, especially during challenging situations? How much could you increase customer loyalty by doing this and what would that mean to your company?
Other articles you might like:
- What type of customers might be going unnoticed?
- How to guarantee your customers come back
- Is Your Employee Appreciation Backfiring?
- Here’s what real service looks like (and why it matters)
- Help your customers get the outcomes they want.
