Seven Ways to Make Your Customers Feel Important

pEveryone has Customers. Even if you work in an internal staff department in a large firm, you have Customers. These are the people you provide work and produce to.!–more– And second, dont be put off by the term Customer. Maybe you call them Clients, Students, Patients, or (heaven forbid!) Users. If one of those words works better for you, read that word every time you read Customer.br /br /We can read lots of books and articles about Customer Service strategies and how to build processes that will serve Customers more successfully. All of these things are valuable, but if we put all of our focus on processes, systems, strategies and procedures we may lose track of something very important.br /br /Customers are people first.br /br /Your customers arent just numbers on your system – They are people that want to feel important. It a universal truth – we all want that feeling, and will gravitate towards those that make us feel that way.br /br /Hint: Having Customers gravitate towards you is a very good thing.br /br /Here are seven ways that you as an individual, regardless of any corporate policies or systems, can make Customers feel more important, written from the Customers perspective:br /br /Please use my name – I know that I probably have a Customer number that I might need to give to you. But I also know that once you put that number in the system, you know my name. Use it. If I give you my credit card, you know my name too. Please use my name.br /br /I want to be a part of the in crowd – I love to be invited into Frequent Flyer clubs and other clubs which give me discounts and special services. If you have this kind of club, invite me to join. If you havent yet created one, you really should think about starting one.br /br /Ask me for my advice – Since I am a person, I do have an opinion so if you care about the answer, Ill give you the advice. Opinion cards may be OK, but I would love to be asked personally. If you give me the chance to tell you what I think on a personal level, Ill reward you with more business. I dont often get asked for my opinion and it feels good. You might even get a good business idea because of me!br /br /Acknowledge me – I know that youre busy – I can see the queue. I even understand that your system might be down, or that you have five people in the phone queue. Ive been there, I work too. But when I go to visit you, at least acknowledge that Im there and show appreciation that I am there. A smile and a hello, or a Well be with you shortly will go a long way. Acknowledge me and Ill understand. Ignore me, and well, how do you feel when youve been ignored?br /br /Surprise me – It would be great to receive something extra with my order. A special discount just because or a free sample of dessert. It doesnt have to be a big thing, and it doesnt have to be every time. If you get a good surprise, do you want to share it with others? Me too. br /br /Apologize – I hate it when people try to prove they were right, or dont mention that fact that the order is three days late, or the surcharge cant be removed, or the item is out of stock. But again, I know things do happen. When theres a problem, a simple apology would be great. Heres the funniest thing. When you make a mistake, and then apologize (perhaps even including a surprise of some sort) Ill love you more than ever. Apologies and good service recoveries are so rare that you can take my dissatisfaction and turn it into loyalty, if you will do this right.br /br /Listen – Most all of the other things Ive told you require you to listen. I can tell when you are really listening to me and that makes me feel very good because true listening is rare, sometimes even at home. You need to listen to my concerns. Listen to my ideas. Listen to my order, so we dont have any misunderstandings. When you actually listen to me, it feels much better.br /br /All business men can do most of these things everyday. When we do we will make our work more enjoyable, easier, and quite likely will begin creating legions of loyal Customers immediately.br /br /And before you go, read these seven things again, with the voice of one of your Customers in your head, as a reminder of how you can make each of your Customers feel more important./pp/ppa href=http://www.ramshyam.com target=_blankCall Center Services/a/p