Oftentimes, when I talk to business owners, I will ask them, “why do you think your loyal customers stay loyal to you?” The interesting thing is that their answers are usually way off the mark. They will say, “it’s because of our great service”, or “ we have the best prices in town.”
Actually customers go back to a store because they feel like they are wanted there. When you make a customer feel important to you, when you let them know that their coming and shopping at your business matters, then they will come back.
How many times have you heard the phrase, “your call is important to us”? Do you believe it? Of course not!
Because after you hear that, you usually are connected to someone who acts like you are not just a nobody, but a nobody that they are incentivized to get off the phone as quickly as possible. How could my call be important? Especially if the person I’m assigned to is reading from a script and has no real idea of what it’s like to be on the other end of the phone.
When my wife and I were looking for a house, we realized that there would always be another house to look at. This drove Realtors crazy, simply because we refused to fall in love with something. Granted, we are a tough couple, but none of the Realtors we dealt with (and we spoke to over 20), ever made us feel like we were important enough to spend any time getting to know well enough to figure out what we really wanted.
But I digress. The facts are these, there will always be lower prices, there will always be better service out there. But if you can make your customers feel like family (well, not my family), and always keep listening to what they want, and not what you want, you will keep ‘em coming back.
--------------------------------------------------How many times have you heard the phrase, “your call is important to us”? Do you believe it? Of course not!
Because after you hear that, you usually are connected to someone who acts like you are not just a nobody, but a nobody that they are incentivized to get off the phone as quickly as possible. How could my call be important? Especially if the person I’m assigned to is reading from a script and has no real idea of what it’s like to be on the other end of the phone.
When my wife and I were looking for a house, we realized that there would always be another house to look at. This drove Realtors crazy, simply because we refused to fall in love with something. Granted, we are a tough couple, but none of the Realtors we dealt with (and we spoke to over 20), ever made us feel like we were important enough to spend any time getting to know well enough to figure out what we really wanted.
But I digress. The facts are these, there will always be lower prices, there will always be better service out there. But if you can make your customers feel like family (well, not my family), and always keep listening to what they want, and not what you want, you will keep ‘em coming back.
Rob Wallis is a speaker, author, and consultant who helps business owners increase their profitability by improving the customer experience. Contact him at TheWallisGroup.com
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