customer service

"The customer is always right."

I bet you've heard it before.

If you've ever dealt with customers at some point you've probably said to yourself, "This one is wrong, wrong, totally wrong! How could this nut job ever think he's right?"

Here's another way of thinking about it: right and wrong are a matter of perspective. Correct and incorrect are based on facts. So yes, the customer is always right. Based on their perspective they are right. They just might not be correct.

(For the record: it's better to understand someone's perspective and try to explain to them a different side than to tell them they're wrong. Or incorrect. Those things just make them more upset AND stubborn. You've lost them at that point.)

Has anyone ever told you how much they appreciate your business?

Let me start off by saying I appreciate you stopping by to read this post today. I meant it - I love writing and sharing ideas, and I need you to make the sharing part happen. If you like this idea, please read some more and tell me what you think.

So back to my question. I mean it both literally and indirectly. There are different ways to say that to a customer.

The most obvious way is to tell someone. Which works sometimes. How much do those words mean if everything you do ticks off your customer? I bet you can figure that one out.

Now we have the important part: doing everything that would make the words "I appreciate your business" have an impact.

This may seem like a hard thing to do, yet if you were already doing it you'd realize it's a much easier way to keep a business going (and growing). It's a philosophy and an attitude, not a step-by-step program to keep your customers happy.Read more

We live in our own reality. Each of us has this one area we dwell in, and to us it's reality. End of discussion.

Everyone trying to sell to you should want to understand that reality, or a reality similar to yours, so they can position their products and services in a way that makes you want to buy them. They should understand you are bright enough to make solid decisions. Should. Key word there, should.

That's not always the case.

To quote Drucker (from The Essential Drucker):

Manufacturers are wont to talk of the "irrational customer." But there are no "irrational customers." As an old saying has it, There are only lazy manufacturers. The customer has to be assumed to be rational. His or her reality, however, is usually quite different from that of the manufacturer.

This is the difference between success and failure, or success and market dominance. It's what takes an organization to the level they are trying to achieve.

Understand who you are targeting.Read more

How likely are you to refer me to a friend?

According to the Harvard Business Review, that’s the only question you can ask which will determine how easily you can grow your business. The people who tell others about you are far more valuable than anyone in your sales organization because they will grow your company for you. Yes, this is true even if you’re flying solo.

Think about it for a moment. Which is more powerful, the company telling you how great they are or a friend of yours telling you how great they are? So people who are going to tell people about you – not just likely, those who will or already have – are the most credible in spreading the word. They’re the people you want to shower with love.

One of our customers is testing this question out in a customer survey. I'm looking forward to checking out the feedback.Read more

The worst experience in retail shopping is giving in to their “Can I help you?” with a “yes,” only to have the employee be of no help at all.

Here’s what happened: I walk into an office supply store (which I will not name) looking for two things, being a long network cable and a small table. I’m going to this store because we have an account there, and they sent us a discount card for the month of April. I answer “yes” to the first store employee, and the next thing I know she takes off without me, expecting me to follow (which I do). She walks down an isle and stops, looking around, lost.

What am I doing? Walking over to the network cables and picking up the longest one they have. She had no idea where they were. How is this helping me?Read more

Have you ever had a salesperson help you find what you’re looking for whether or not they’d get the sale?

It happened to me this morning. My fiancée and I are looking for a place to hold a wedding reception. The coordinator we met with, Marla, from one of the places we looked at over the weekend, the Emerson Inn, called me to ask if we had made any decisions in a courteous way. I told her we loved the place, though we want an evening reception and the Emerson only does afternoons. She asked a few more questions about what we were looking for and offered to send me some suggestions via e-mail. I thanked her and hung up.

Her e-mail hit my inbox about 3 minutes later.Read more

Flying to and from Hawaii was a tiring experience. I'm not looking for sympathy here, as Hawaii was paradise - I'm wondering how one of the airlines I flew is still in business. Seriously.Read more