" Each of us should know what our customers expect before they know it".- Dinesh K. Gupta and Ashok Jambhekar.
I was listening to a young sales executive the other day, and the way he was talking about customers made me think he and they were a different species. He was condescending, patronizing, abusive, belittling and rediculing. He seemed to think it was fair to con people, he said it was up to us to check the small print and if we did not, we were somehow stupid!
I have no respect for such people!
Basic rule: Do not cheat or lie to your customers. You need them. Without them, you will have NO COMPANY! It's a two way thing, and it is an important Relationship. Customers are never too much trouble.
I respect them for what they give me, and they respect me for what I give them.
Go the extra mile for your customers. " Brilliance is a standard, not a skill".- Michael Heppell, How to be brilliant.
This is the easiest rule of all. Going the extra mile should be the first thing on your mind when you wake in the morning, and last thing at night. Everything you do should be to take service that bit further. Trouble is, customers are such a pain in the backside. They want stuff, they demand, they are difficult, they complain, they call at unnatural hours, they expect service above and beyond, they think the whole damn business should be run for them, they moan, they want money off, free gifts, money back if they are dissatisfied, replacement products, guarantees, safety checks, harmless products...God, who do they think they are? Strike a chord here? Ring any bells? I've worked in industries where the Customer was not so much king, as an inconvenience!
Let's clear up one thing here and now. Without customers there is not point. No point coming in. No point making anything. No point creating anything. No point doing anything. Without the Customer we are all whistling in the dark.
Now that the point is made, and that we realize the importance of customers, we have to think of ways of getting them, keeping them, satisfying them, welcoming them, going the extra mile for them. We have to be creative in the ways we woo them. It is a lot cheaper to service an existing Customer than to recruit a new one.
Keep the ones you've got by being nice to them! Quick exercise: Think of 3 ways of going the extra mile for your Customer right now!
