Category Archives: Customer Service

I Don’t Want Customer Loyalty Cards And Extra Discounts!

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Customer loyalty cards and giving “extra” discounts are not authentic customer appreciation.

These things are marketing tactics to induce me to shop at your store or website. Don’t get me wrong.  They are ok marketing tactics but that’s all they are. I take them for what they are worth but I don’t take them as “appreciation”.

If you want to express real appreciation to me, appreciation that I believe is sincere, you’ll  have to do it face-to-face and right at the point of sale.

Give me a “free” pen!

Give me a “free” calendar!

Give me a “free” notepad!

Don’t give me another pitch!

Better yet, give me a thank-you for shopping at your store and tell me to contact you if I have any problems with the merchandise or service I purchased. Tell me you’ll be there to help me. Tell me that is what you are there to do. Give me the assurance that you really want me to be satisfied doing business with you.

Say these things to me and follow through and I will be loyal. It’s a whole lot cheaper than discounts and it really ”buys” more customer loyalty.

 

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I Used To Lock Some Customers In My Store Until They Made A Purchase!

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I guess you can’t have it easier than that. If a customer doesn’t buy, lock them up until they do buy!

All kidding aside though, on many occasions I did lock the customer in the store with me until they were taken care of.

This would happen if it was closing time and my customer wasn’t finished shopping or we may have been having a fit problem that was going to take some time, or I might have been making an adjustment on returned merchandise.

I would tell the help to go home and lock the door and leave the lights on with me and my customer inside. The surprising thing was that most of the times this happened the customer was willing to return the following day to finish but I was always willing to stay late if they were willing. They had the option.

I can hear you saying now, “why lock the door when you might get more customers”?

That wasn’t my concern. My concern was the customer I had and I wanted to be in a position to give that customer my undivided attention. Other customers coming in would have split my attention. Not  conducive to good customer service.

Every customer I ever did this with was very grateful to me.

Every customer I ever did this with became a loyal customer to our store.

Did I give up my time just to make a loyal customer that would spend more money in my store?

NOPE! I stayed simply because I wanted to solve the customer’s problem.

Oh, and by the way, I always did solve the customer’s problem.

Are you willing to lock the customer in your store until they make a purchase? Do you allow your associates to stay late to take care of your customers?

Are Today’s Customers Really “Smarter”?

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There was a time when customers entered stores or websites “armed” with judgement.

Now they enter those same stores and websites “armed” with knowledge.

Why is this so?

Because there are not enough people in the stores or on the websites to give them the knowledge they need to exercise their judgement.

They’re not “smarter” than shoppers in the past. They just have more “knowledge” out of necessity.

Do you make it necessary for customers to enter your business “armed” with knowledge or do you sincerely help them exercise their judgement?

Customer Service In “The World Inside Your Door”

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The “World Inside Your Door” is the world of the customer’s experience. The place where you must make good on all the bold promises you’ve made in your advertising. How well do you deliver on those promises?

Don’t expect advertising to fix problems inside your door. If there’s a deficiency in the quality of your customer’s experience, fix it!

The two excerpts above are from an incredible business book titled: Secret Formulas of the Wizard Of Ads by Roy H. Williams; chapter 64. They hit home with me because I’ve often thought those very same words.

Do you ever think those words and really ponder on them?

The Single Best Foundation Piece For An Effective Customer Retention Policy!

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Can a doctor really help you if he doesn’t have a good grasp of medical knowledge?

Can an auto mechanic really help you if he has limited knowledge of car engines?

Can an attorney really help you that isn’t fully versed in the law?

Without the proper knowledge, these people have a limited usefulness to you if you need help.

The more they know and understand about their field of expertise, the more they are able to help you and the better they will be at doing so.

How much knowledge do you have and how much do you understand about what you do?