When you are in business, every thing matters. Every thing is important. The things that matter are how you interact with your customers or clients, how you follow up to requests, how you market yourself and your business, what systems you employ to run your business, how you pay your vendors. It ALL matters!
The smallest thoughtless gesture might keep a customer from coming back and doing business with you. Or, a small gesture might keep a customer coming back! And, many times you don’t know what that special little thing is…unless, of course, you ask.
When I’ve conducted surveys of customers for large and small companies, the business owners are often surprised at what customers appreciate or what drove them away.
For one company, it surprised the business owner that the fact that his workmen showed up on time and were polite, kept customers coming back.
Another owner learned that his referral of other service-provider businesses was actually hurting his business. His referrals were not following up and those who did were not doing good work. He corrected the perceptions by calling all of his customers who were affected by the shoddy workmanship to apologize and re-establish his connection with them. Not knowing this information was seriously affecting his business and the referrals that weren’t coming because of this.
Take the time to ask your customers and clients a few questions. The information that will be revealed is priceless. Ask questions about your service. When you do business with my company, and me, do you feel well served? Is there anything we can do to make your experience better? Is our follow up adequate?
One of the important ways to differentiate your business from others is in the follow up. Do you call your customers or clients a few days after their interaction with you to assess how happy they are and if there is something that needs your attention? For instance, a few years ago, I had some dental work done. Imagine my surprise when I got a call from the dentist the next day to ask how I was doing? It wasn’t a routine call from his assistant or receptionist. It was the dentist himself who called. Showing you care about your customers, clients or patients is a critical part of showing them that they matter.
When you are tempted to say, “it doesn’t matter”, stop and think. It does matter.
Every thing matters!