Image by J. Star via Flickr
My schedule at our local gym has been extremely erratic lately due to both travel and my apathy. The last few time’s I’ve been to the gym only a small percentage of the staff has seen me which means that for much of the staff I’ve been gone for awhile.
When I arrived this morning there were three staff people there, all of whom were busy. However, each and every one of them took the time to engage me in conversation today. Some chiding me for not coming in recently and some just saying hi. The net result of all this is that I felt like I was at a place where I’m liked and appreciated. It’s a place that I’m consistently happy to spend my money.
What are you doing to let your customers know that you appreciate them? If you’re in a physical business, where you see your customers, it’s extremely important to make them feel appreciated when you see them. But for many companies customer interaction is done either over the phone or through email.
If you don’t have the opportunity to see your customers face to face it’s extremely important that every single customer interaction expresses your appreciation for the business your customers do with you. Of course, I’m not suggesting you need to begin and end each sentence with a “thank you” but each customer interaction needs to be professional, and pleasant. From the way your website looks, to the way the phones are answered (you do answer the phones, right?) to the speed and quality of your email responses, every single customer interaction makes an impression with your customers and in some cases that is the only chance you have to make that impression.
If you don’t make your customers feel appreciated you can be sure that someone else will be happy to step in and do that for you.
