Image Credit: © MyTudut
Why do we keep going back to the same shops and businesses time and time again? Is it price? Sometimes, for sure. Is it quality of the product? Again, yes. Probably even more than for price. Is it the service you get? Absolutely yes! And it is probably the things that you don’t even notice.
What Makes For Good Service?
When we are the customer, what sorts of things go toward what we think is good customer service? Well, everyone is different and would have different ideas about good customer service, but here is a list of things that should be fairly common to all of us…
- Getting the thing on time. Whatever it is we’re paying for, we like it when we get it when you say we’re going to get it.
- Getting exactly what we ask for. If we’ve asked for a box of fooble-klangers and you’ve said we can have them, then we are happiest when there are fooble-klangers inside the box you hand us.
- Getting more than we’ve asked for. It blows our mind when you throw in something extra.
- Fixing problems quickly. Hey, we know that you are human and all kinds of things can go wrong. Providing you fix anything that does go wrong at the speed of light, we’ll keep coming back.
- Being remembered. We probably won’t ever admit it, but this one is the most important to us. When we walk in and you look up and toss over a quick “hey Steve!” we get funny warm fuzzy feelings and have thoughts of “wow, this is the best place to get fooble-klangers”. In fact we’ll even tell our friends that you are the guy to get fooble-klangers from.
The Little Things
Yes, it is the little things that mean the most to your customers. So find out what your customer’s name is, and use it whenever you are talking to them. And while you are doing that, smile! Those two things alone, using a customer’s name and smiling, can do more for your bottom line than any amount of advertising or marketing.
There are lots of other little things that you can do too. Like sending a birthday or anniversary card. If you do that, the birthday card thing, can you please do me a favour and stand out from the crowd… write it out by hand and stick a stamp on the envelope. Ask yourself this: would you rather get a hand-written birthday card (in a hand addressed envelope with a real stamp on it), or an email that is obviously a template? Think about the human touch. Your customers will love you for it.
Here’s an idea that I don’t think many (any?) businesses do, send a card to commemorate the anniversary of them becoming a customer to your business.
Send thank you notes! And not just after they buy something from you. You can send a thank you note whenever you have any sort of contact with a customer. You can, and should, send thank you notes out to people who aren’t (yet) your customer. If you, yourself, get great service somewhere, take a moment to send them a thank you.
Leading on from the thank you note, reward your customers for buying from you. Obviously this will depend on your profit margins and how much value you can place on each customer, but don’t be afraid to send them a little gift to say thank you. Some years ago I had a small computer business and whenever somebody bought a computer system from me I’d shout them a dinner at a local Italian restaurant. I was able to negotiate a good discount on those dinners because I was sending them new customers every week. And it had the added bonus of not only my customers talking about me to their friends, but the restaurant owners were doing the same thing. I can tell you that a pizza can sell a lot of computer hardware. 
Put Yourself In Your Customer’s Shoes
With customer service, your aim should always be to make your customer a happier and more satisfied person than they were before they came into contact with you. The easiest way to do that is to put yourself into their shoes. How would you like to be treated? Treat your customers the way you’d love to be treated and you’ll have customers for life.
Don’t forget to smile
Till next time…
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Hey Steve,
I love how you can fit fooble klanger into a blog post lol.
I totally agree, its all about being human and giving a damn. Im with you on this brother.
bLAZE yOUR tRAIL
Twitter: RyanRenfrew
Hey Ryan!
Welcome to one of my pieces of the Internet. Great to see you here, mate!
Oh, you can’t beat the good ol’ fooble-klanger… they’re the best!
Thanks very much for stopping by, Ryan. Hope to see you again soon!
Kind regards,
Steve
Twitter: SteveYoungs
I really like the idea of sending customers a birthday card. Man, I would LOVE to do that for my best blog readers… But it almost sounds kind of creepy to ask for someone’s address online so that I can send them a birthday card!
I also think your idea of buying people a pizza is a great one! That’s another one I’d like to incorporate on my blog at some point. Maybe I could send them a coupon or something… Hmmm…
Anyway, thanks, Steve! Keep up the great work.
Tristan wrote: 68 Blogging Tips from Confucius FREE eBook Plus a Bonus!
Twitter: tristanhigbee
Hahaha, yeah that does sound real scary; buying something and then having a business follow you around. Some people might like it, others will hate it.
Hi Peter!
Great to see another new face in my comments section. Welcome!
Yeah, sometimes it can be a fine line between customer service and stalking
In all seriousness though, if you come across as a stalker… you’re doing it wrong.
Thanks for stopping by, mate. Love to see you here again soon!
Kind regards,
Steve
Twitter: SteveYoungs
Hey Tristan!
I agree that going from a completely virtual and digital relationship with your customer to getting something physical into their letter box wouldn’t be the easiest thing in the world to do. But not impossible. Bottom line, all you have to do is ask. You could perhaps have extra fields on your newsletter signup dialog that ask for a postal address. If I were doing that I’d make it optional so the customer doesn’t have to give you the info if they don’t want to. And it is nowhere near as creepy as you think…
Years ago I was selling life insurance. It was back when AIDS/HIV was just becoming more and more prominent in the media. Nobody knew much about it in those days, including the insurance companies. The medical questionnaires attached to the insurance applications suddenly got 3 extra pages of some very personal questions. You think getting an address is creepy? Try asking strangers about their sexual preferences and drug usage. There were questions about how often they had anal sex and with how many different partners, and other great conversation-starters.
What I found though, instead of people getting creeped out by my questions, as long as I asked with integrity, they were happy to answer. Even the homosexuals I sold life insurance to.
If you have a legitimate reason to ask the question, most of your customers won’t mind answering.
BTW June 19th; PO Box 6448, Upper Mt Gravatt 4122, Australia
Thanks for stopping by, mate. And thanks much for the RT, too.
Kind regards,
Steve,
Twitter: SteveYoungs
How does one tell a good Fooble Klanger from a bad one?
YOU did hit customer service on the head. Little things can matter a lot.
After moving all my stuff last night my brother and I drove by a Pizza Place. We were going to get a few slices after all the moving. We had to go a few extra miles because the owners of one place were rude to me and kicked me out when I was a kid.
This was something like 20-25 years ago. I have not been back there since. they probably lost an easy 2-3K from me in those intervening years. Obviously my stance hasn’t put them out of business, but I think it is a good example of why you should always treat a customer politely, because you never know the long term results of a little rudeness.
Being polite costs nothing but can mean everything
Steve@Lifestyle Design wrote: 4 Ways to Earn Online Affiliate Income
Twitter: stevescott1
Hi Steve!
How do you tell the good ones from the bad? Oh, that’s easy, the bad ones don’t klang, they sorta just klunk.
Thanks for sharing your pizza example. The sad thing (for the rude business owners) is that this story is not as uncommon as you might think. I bet most of us could relay similar experiences, or at least could name somebody who could. Does your estimated loss to them of 2-3K factor in the people you’ve told the story to over the years who have decided to buy elsewhere too? Also the real net loss to them is double what you spend at their competitor.
Thanks very much for stopping by and commenting, mate!
Kind regards,
Steve
Twitter: SteveYoungs
This is something that more and more people are taking in to account and is something Gary Vaynerchuk has been talking about for the last 12 months.
We actually get cards and emails from companies like this over here in the UK. I’ve actually added it to my way of coaching. I email clients, past and present to see how they are and if there is anything I can do for them. If I know their birthday I always send them a message on the big day.
I think I partly agree with Peter in the respect that there’s a very fine line with this stuff Steve because overkill the nicey nicey we want to do everything for you can be too much for some people. When I’m food shopping its exactly the same for me. I just want to get want I want and get out. I’m not fussed if I get remembered. I don’t want follow up from them. I just want food. That’s not to say that supermarkets and things shouldn’t go that extra mile but, like EVERYTHING in life, it’s not an exact fit for everyone
Ben wrote: How to change your life in 5 minutes
Hey Ben!
I’m sure that Gary would be the first to agree with me on this, there’s nothing new here. It’s just about being human, and it is the way things were back when your parents were doing your grocery shopping, well, maybe my parents… your parents are a bit young still.
I think it is awesome that you keep in close contact with your customers, mate. Go you! Now, I want to put out a challenge to you… send a hand-written note or card via snail mail instead of email every once in a while. Email is, believe it or not, a very cold and impersonal way of communicating.
As for not being fussed about being remembered at the grocery store, I can probably agree with you in that I could take it or leave it. But let me ask you, Ben, when was the last time you had the chance to take it? I bet if you walked up to the counter with your bacon, eggs, and milk and the girl behind the counter gives you a nice smile and friendly “oh hi, Ben, how are you today?” you’d walk out of that store feeling great.
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and comment, mate. You rock!
Kind regards,
Steve.
Twitter: SteveYoungs
My bets customer experience was at Home Depot belive it or not. The guy helping us was so nice
Edwin wrote: RockMelt-All Your Favorite Social Networks In One
Forgive me for this, I had to google “home depot” to find out what they were. Ah, I see it’s a big hardware/home improvement chain. I like how it says my local store is Atlanta, GA. How far is that from Australia?
Because that guy was so nice to you, I bet I know where you’ll be going next time you want to buy some home improvement stuff. And if you are anything like me, you told your friends about it too.
Thanks for another great comment, mate.
Kind regards,
Steve
Twitter: SteveYoungs
LOL I did not realize you lived in Australia
Edwin wrote: How To Turn Spell Check On Your Computer On
What? You couldn’t tell from my accent? G’day, mate! LOL
Twitter: SteveYoungs
HiSteve
Came over here from Twitter. A friend tweeted your post and had to come have a look. Yay then I meet a fellow Aussie…g’day mate. Sorry couldn’t resist that one lol
Great post btw. I have just started selling sourced products both offline & through my Etsy store online. I had one of my regular readers who happens to be from across the ditch (NZ to those non-Aussies reading this comment) write a very supportive comment after a not so complimentary one and to show appreciation I emailed her, asked for her address so I could send her a thankyou gift. She was delighted.
Cos she chose one of the smallest items in the store, I sent a surprise gift along with it. Guess whose store she is tweeting about?! Wasn’t done for that reason but it sure worked
For my regular readers, if they buy from my store they also will be getting a surprise with their order. Just my way of saying thankyou for supporting my blog as I get established.
Being kind and appreciative does’t cost much. Treating others as we hope to be treated ourselves is the way I hope to always deliver my customer service. Seems to be working as already had some great testimonials and only been selling a short time.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavenderuses wrote: So Little Time- So Much To Do
Twitter: lavenderuses
Hi Patricia!
Absolutely lovely to have you here at one of my little bits of this thing we call an Internet. Welcome!
Wow, that’s awesome how you treat your customers, Patricia. And you are so right, treat them the way you’d love to be treated. With outlooks and attitudes like that your business will boom for sure.
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving such a great comment, Patricia. I hope to see you back again soon.
Kind regards,
Steve
Twitter: SteveYoungs