The Little Things Customers Need
How to Earn Loyal Customers with Small Gestures
One cheery hello, a welcoming smile or a helping hand can strike quite a good impression and leave customers feel well cared. These days, businesses seems to be run on a fast pace. Entrepreneurs are more concerned with quicker waiting times and damage control in times of complaints. Their strategy to customer relations is more reactive than proactive. This just causes their reputation to go downhill for a lack of a proactive strategy can make their customer service appear lousy.
How can you make customers feel like royalty whenever they interact with you?
Go the extra mile.
Serving guests on an inn? Deliver five-star treatment with a tour of the place before giving them the key to their rooms. This might be more work for you but welcoming guests this way makes them feel happier to be in your establishment than anywhere else. Anticipate their questions and provide the information they need without them asking for it. Adopt a genial attitude as well. A dour, serious expression can make it seem that you’re forced to serve. This would detract from the effect you want to achieve and make them feel like uncomfortable instead.
Greet them with complimentary notes and tokens.
This is important, especially when you’re in the hospitality industry. Greet customers with a ‘Good morning’ note with a flower, some chocolates or some other token. This can make guests feel special and very much welcome. By the time they leave, offer them some souvenirs like pens engraved with your business name, mugs or other promotional items.
Personalize your approach to every customer.
Each customer is different from one another. Know their requirements and tailor your services to their needs. Learn how to read body language, verbal cues, facial expressions and gestures. If your customer likes to talk while choosing merchandise, smile and engage in small talk. Exchange jokes with them and touch their arms in a friendly yet unobtrusive manner. If customers like to be left alone while making their choices, observe from a far distance and approach when they look around for someone to ask about something. This would make them feel more comfortable browsing items and picking goods they like.
Memorize their names and their favorite items.
Customers love it when you remember their names and what they’ve bought the other day. Take note of their favorite items and inform them when you have their much-loved merchandise on hand. Take the trouble to wrap their bought items with high-quality paper or some other wrapping material. Ask them about the nephew they’ve talked to you about when they last visited. This would endear them to you and make them feel that they’re very much important.
Before you succeed in social media, you must first do well in actual customer relations. Remember that your offline dealings with your customers are more important than your online reach in the social networks. The more meaningful your customer relationships, the more online engagement you’ll receive.
Think some other approaches have been missed? Please mention them in the comments below.
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