It’s Your Business
- Subject: Providing excellent customer service
- Essential Reading: Shop Owner, Center Manager
- Author: Terry Greenhut, Transmission Digest Business Editor
Did you ever get excited about the prospect of paying a visit to your local deli for coffee or a sandwich? I do every time. From the point of view of a marketing and sales consultant, doing business in this store is an absolute and rare pleasure, the kind of experience we should provide for our customers every time. Because I witness so many doing it wrong, it’s extremely refreshing to deal with people who go out of their way to do it right day after day.
This particular deli is owned by an Italian immigrant family in which the owner, his wife and several of his grown children work either in the kitchen, making deliveries or behind the counter waiting on customers. Their food is great and the portions are huge, but that’s not the best part. The way they treat their customers is.
Whether they know you or not, when you come into the store they make you feel as though they do. Every customer gets a “Hi, how you doin’? Good to see you; what can I get you?”
If there is even a momentary delay in serving you they apologize. If you order any meat or cheese that they cut on the slicing machine they always offer you a taste. When you order a quarter pound of something and it runs a little over (which it usually does) they charge you for only the quarter pound you ordered. They don’t do what most stores do and tell you it’s a little over and ask you, “Is that OK?” and then charge you for the overage.
Although they work quickly you never feel as if you’re being rushed. Even when there is a line at lunchtime they still focus all their attention on you until your order is finished. When they add up your bill they always round it down to some slightly lower figure; for example, if it came to $13.27 they would tell you, “It’s $13.27; just give me $13.” It’s not that they take off a lot; just enough to make you feel as though you got something and they aren’t nickel-and-diming you to death.
How can they afford to give large portions and free tastes and round down the totals? That’s simple; they charge more. The thing is that they are so darn nice to everybody that people don’t seem to mind paying a little more even in times like these; I know I don’t. When you leave that store you always feel good about what you bought, what you paid for it and the entire experience.
The one thing the entire family does that doesn’t cost them anything is “be nice.” They treat everyone with respect and make a big deal out of everyone’s order. Unlike in many other food establishments or other businesses where people work very close to each other, there is no bickering. When they pass each other they always say, “Excuse me.” You never hear one family member say anything derogatory about another, and they all seem to leave their problems and frustrations outside when they come to work. They are all clean cut and well groomed, which gives you a good feeling about the people who are handling your food.
Now I know that it was because of the father’s training and influence, possibly even his mandate, that his sons act the way they do in the store, and I give him a lot of credit for never wavering in his manner of running the business. I believe that all his children will be successful whether they choose to stay in the restaurant business or move on to something else because of the training he has given them.
When I see a small business run so well with such caring individuals serving their customers I can’t help but stop and say to myself: “Now that’s the way a business should be run. Do it right and be well compensated for it.”
Our shops can run the same way if the owners want them to. After all, as my grandmother always said, “The fish stinks from the head back,” meaning that the person in charge makes and has to enforce the rules of the business. He or she is the head. If, as Zig Ziglar used to say, “The owner suffers from ‘Stinkin’ Thinkin’’’ everyone else who works there will as well. Then the whole fish goes rotten and you can throw it away, just like what has happened to so many small businesses; they’ve been thrown away.
Carl Sewell, who owned the largest and most-profitable Cadillac dealership in Texas, was a master at marketing his service and sales departments. He would, for example, teach his service advisers to always round down the customer’s bill by a few dollars below the final quoted estimate so they would feel as though they got a little something extra.
He also would use brand-new Cadillacs as loaners. He would then have his service advisers ask each customer how they enjoyed driving the new car. If they gave any indication that they liked it he would immediately bring out a salesperson to try to close a deal.
By the way, old Carl hardly ever discounted a new Cadillac. His dealership was known for selling list-priced cars but giving the best service there was to give. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they rounded down a $55,100 car to $55,000, but not much more than that.
There are two times when making a really good impression means a lot: when customers first come in and again when they are leaving. Of course, everything in between must be up to par, but the first impression sets the stage for everything that’s about to happen and the last impression often determines whether they’ll be coming back for more. If the last thing they remember happening is that you knocked a couple of bucks off their bill when you didn’t have to, they will likely want to see you again. Conversely, if you add a few dollars onto their bill at the last minute they’ll likely think you ripped them off and never come back. The amount of money that you take off or add on isn’t important; it’s the fact that you did it that makes the difference.
The few dollars by which you might round down someone’s bill can be viewed as a marketing expense. If it brings customers back it is likely the cheapest advertising you’ll ever buy, and it works directly and immediately on people who can understand and benefit from it the most – your own customers.
Too many of us, I believe, work very hard to bring in new customers through advertising and promotion to strangers while we neglect our best possible source of revenue and future customers: our existing clientele. If there is any group that can help us promote our businesses inexpensively, it’s them. They keep coming back because they like the way they are being treated and will tell their friends that’s the case. You can’t ask for a more-meaningful endorsement. It’s way better than advertising to a bunch of strangers who will start out by price-shopping you and everyone else until they decide with whom they want to stay. Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t want a total stranger as a new customer. It just means that they are harder to establish the necessary trust level with than if they come in on a recommendation from a happy customer.
Cultivating those happy customers should be a primary concern. Greet them well when they call or come in. Be very careful with your facial expressions. Don’t ever let them see if you are annoyed in any with them or anything else. Never say “no” to a customer’s request. Just find a way to fulfill it or give them an alternative. Never let any employee who doesn’t have a great attitude or hasn’t been schooled on what he or she can and can’t say near a customer. Give customers a little bit of a break on their way out the door so their lingering memory of doing business with you is a good one.
Be consistent. Give each customer the same excellent service every time no matter whether it’s a new job or a comeback. When there’s a problem say, “I’m so glad you brought that to my attention.” Follow up to be sure they stay happy. Send thank you notes, make follow-up phone calls, and always try to book their next appointment, if they need one, before they leave the shop.
Ask for recommendations. Say, “Can you think of anyone who’s mentioned to you that they are having a problem with their car or are not happy with their current service provider?” Then try to get a phone number so you can contact that person and offer your services.
The whole idea is to work your customers, not just serve them. Use every opportunity they give you to either make them better customers or bring in others. Even though having a car repaired is not something people look forward to, you can make it a very pleasant experience for them so at least when they have to do it again they will want to do it with you.
Terry Greenhut, Transmission Digest Business Editor. Visit www.TerryGreenhut.com.
