So what does a customer REALLY want from you? Even the most skilled managers and business owners make common mistakes that are costing them customers. What does the customer really want? When you can answer that question, you can keep customers longer and have greater profits.
Here are a few top priorities for your customers:
Help. They want someone to solve their problem and help them. That’s why they are hiring a service. The task is something they cannot or will not do themselves.
Respect and recognition. The sound of their name is like music to their ears. USE the customer’s name throughout your conversations and you will give the recognition they seek.
To be listened to with empathy. Listen and understand what the customer is telling you. Don’t assume you know what they want. Show you understand by saying so.
Friendly, smiling voice or face. A smile can win over even the grumpiest of customers (sometimes), so it’s worth keeping that smile on every day.
To be made to feel important. They know when you care so make certain your customer knows you have their care and concern at the top of the list.
Satisfaction. Just take care of the customer. Refer to #1 help.
Trust and trustworthiness. A feeling of trust has to happen before a customer will respond with hiring your service. Humans are hard wired to have eye to eye contact and develop a level of trust (or not) immediately.
By reviewing and following these tips, you will be on the road to offering outrageous customer satisfaction. Of course, it won’t be useful if the business owner is the only one to follow the tips. While customer satisfaction corporate culture starts at the top, all employees must be trained and of the same mind set about customer satisfaction.
Let’s talk about “no problem” and the overuse of that phrase. It is common place in American speech culture to say off handedly “oh…no problem”. While the intent of the person using the phrase is generally not a negative one, most often that phrase comes across as flippant or can be interpreted incorrectly. What the speaker means is “it isn’t a problem for me to take care of that” but what it can sound like is:
“Well, it’s normally a problem, but this time I will take care of it and so it’s No Problem”.
Try this exercise with your family and friends. Take a quick accounting of how much you use that phrase and when. During times when you normally would use the phrase “no problem” which is actually a negative phrase, replace it with “my pleasure” or “it’s my pleasure” or “I’m happy to take care of that for you” or “glad to be of help”. You will be amazed at the difference in the response from the person to whom you are speaking. Almost instantly there is a warmer, more caring feeling than when the off handed “no problem” is used. Listen carefully to how much it is used and how often the customer nurturing would be better if only the phrase was replaced with something more caring.
And a side reward is that the customer is feeling more like you are really caring about their needs instead of the inconvenience their request might have caused. Some places where this nurturing will really go a long way in client retention is when a customer calls with a special request for a change in schedule or an additional service. Try saying, “Mrs. Smith, we’re happy we can make the change” or “Mrs. Smith, it’s our pleasure to take care of that for you”. See if you can’t hear in Mrs. Smith’s voice her delight at how important she is. So much more caring than “ok, no problem”.
Give it a try in your business and see the results in the voice and tone of your customers. Remember, they know when you care. 68%of customers stop doing business with you because of the treatment they received (and most of the time you don’t even know how they are feeling). You have one shot at getting and keeping customers. Make it your best one.
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