subject: What's Important In Customer Relations [print this page] On a recent visit to a warehouse superstore, I selected the self check-out lane where there was no wait. Since I have little patience for lines, this seemed like the best option even though I then had to transfer my purchases back to the shopping cart for the trip to the car.
As I did that, the associate assigned to the self check-out lanes approached with my receipt. "Don't forget to take your receipt! You won't be able to exit without it!"
Instantly, I was 6 years old and Mrs. Boehlke, my first grade teacher, was saying in a sing-song voice, "Be sure to put your name on your paper! I won't know who to give the grade to without your name!"
While I'm sure the associate was just trying to be helpful, I felt as though I'd just been scolded. It got me to thinking about our communications with our clients. Do we communicate with them in a way that says they are valued, respected and ADULTS?
Or do we sometimes treat them as children, saying with our words or actions that "You better do this or else that will happen!"
I've been a patient of doctors who I really liked and who gave great care. However, the greatest interaction isn't generally with the doctor (gotta love sitting in a cold exam room covered with nothing but a piece of paper!) but with their office staff.
How does the staff make you feel? Are you as pleased with them as you are with your physician?
When I called the customer service number for my business bank account, and entered the appropriate number (press 1 for..., press 2 for...), I got a recorded message that said in an official and condescending voice, "If you're calling about a business account, you must dial 1-888...
Have you ever taken your car in for an oil change only to have the attendant berate you for low oil levels? What do they think you're doing - sneaking out each night under the cover of darkness with an eye dropper to suck out a few drops of oil?
While I might not know all of the dire consequences associated with running without oil, I intuitively know it can't be good.
I assume, you, like me, make a habit of checking your oil, and wouldn't intentionally run your car without it. Instead of pointing fingers - You let the oil get low! - being treated as an adult and a customer they'd like to return would focus the finger pointing on the the real issue - the low oil level.
Determining the cause is a solutions based approach your customers will appreciate.
As a small business owner, it's important you know how your customers are being treated. If you're selling commodities, where the lowest price generally wins, you better believe you have to treat your customers better than the big box down the street.
If you're a small business owner providing services, the way your customer is treated is ultra important. As the business owner, you treat your customer with the respect and attention you would expect when you're the customer.
But, just like in the case of the doctor, what are their interactions like with your office staff?
If you have automated voice messages or emails, how do they make your customer feel? If you're like most of us, automated voice messages or emails, once created, are rarely revisited. Gee, did I say that?
And, are there non-verbal ways we communicate with customers that may not be optimal? I'm used to showing my receipt as I exit the big box warehouse but I wouldn't want to be treated that way as I exited your upscale boutique.
Revisiting the way you and your staff communicate, both verbally and non-verbally, will help assure the customer gets the message - You're important to our business!
