Great customer service is SO IMPORTANT. It just takes ticking off one customer before they call up their best friend and say, "OMGosh, I am never going there again...and you shouldn't either." And then that friend is out to lunch with their mom the next day and says, "Jane called yesterday and let me tell you what happened..." and it is a continuous chain of events from there.
Granted, there are those customers that are never going to be happy. They have to complain about something ALL the time and they are never satisfied. Even so, it is important to give those customers a great experience. I have always tried to take good care of customers. Part of it was my job but the other part was I loved the feeling I would get inside knowing a customer left happy. Whether it was walking an elderly person out to their car with their groceries, (instead of a bagger boy who could care less) or listening to a customer tell me their life story while trying to fix their phone, I enjoyed it.
If you treat a customer right, not only do they come back time and time again, but they refer their friends and family. Before you know it, you have a successful business. Rita came in to my very first store I started at with T-mobile 7 years ago. She was in her 40's and going through a divorce. She had 2 daughters and she had just recently signed up for cell phone service. She decided she could not afford it. I looked at her plan and we lowered it so she could have a phone to get in touch with her daughters. I remember all this because she sat and talked/cried for an hour to me. That was the last I saw of her until 4 years later. I was in the backroom writing the schedule as a newly promoted manager and my employee came back and said, "Rita is here to see you." I did not know a Rita. Then I walked up front and lo and behold, it was her. She had tracked me down. She still had T-mobile and had brought her friend that was looking for cell phone service. She started out the conversation with, "I don't think you remember me but you provided such great service to me awhile back and my friend here is looking to switch providers." Holy crap lady, she had a good memory. We signed her friend. Then her friend brought in her mom. You never know.
Yesterday, I was out shoveling the snow in my driveway and a truck drives by me. I see him do a U-Turn. Shortly I see him pull his truck in front of my house. I am thinking, "What the heck is this guy doing?" He gets out of his truck and grabs a shovel from the back. He then starts shoveling my driveway. I asked him, "What do you think you are doing?" in a joking manner. He says, "I have come to do my good deed for the day. I do one a day and today you are it." How cute is that?!?
The greatest example of serving others are the women and men in my family. I am so blessed to have such wonderful examples. I could write a whole book on the service I have seen. Service is honestly the best way for us to get through this life. It is a way for us to bring joy to not only those we help, but to ourselves as well. I can tell you why we feel that joy:
"And behold, I tell you these things that you may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17
This can be a negative, harsh world we live in. Each one of us can make a difference by helping and not hurting. I challenge each one of you who read this that for the next week, each day, you do something to serve another person. If someone does something for you, pay it forward. It can be very small, a simple note of appreciation maybe. Let me know how it goes.
Remember, if everyone in the world had a smile on their face, the world would be a better place. Good Luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment