Why You Did Get My Business, List #1
The following is the complement to the previous list, “Why You Didn’t Get my Business, List #1″ None of this has to be expensive or difficult (duh-o).
1. You smiled when you saw me coming.
2. You looked me in the eye.
3. You spoke in complete sentences (and weren’t snapping your gum.)
4. You sent me a snail mail “thank you” note for meeting with you.
5. You took care of all the paperwork.
6. You recognized my personality type and presented to me accordingly.
7. You set my expectations re next steps and service right up front.
8. You called and let me know what was going on when you realized you couldn’t meet those initial expectations.
9. Your voice mail tells me how to contact you in the event of an emergency or how to reach a live person.
10. You gave me a (good) business referral (even when I wasn’t a “hot” prospect or after you didn’t get my business the first time.)
11. Your web site is both interesting and comfortable. I can easily find (relevant) information; you don’t force me to fill out long form just to download a document; you write in a conversational tone.
11. You have a blog, and you obviously put a lot of thought into it. (And, no, I don’t always have to agree with you. I do, however, insist on doing business with smart, thoughtful people.)
12. I read about you on another blog and called/emailed/visited you.
13. Your web site information and sales offers are consistent with that of your direct mail and salesforce.
14. You sent me a note saying, “thanks for thinking of us” even when you didn’t get the first bit of business.
15. You were/are a great client.
16. You made it easy for me to buy (versus suffering through being “sold.”)
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Tags: sales, customer service, marketing, marketing troubleshooting
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November 20th, 2006 at 4:04 pm
17. You stopped what you were doing to help me out. Example: Borders. If you inquire about whether they carry a title, they don’t wave you “it’s over there,” someone will actually walk you to the shelf and find it for you. (I know a lot of people complain about the book chains replacing the indies, but I find the service at Borders top notch. And they don’t just carry best seller/beach reading.) Same goes for Charles Supply, my neighborhood hardware store, now run by the second generation, who couldn’t be more helpful - and never treat you like a dope if you can’t figure out how something works.
18. You value me as a customer. Example: LLBean. Coupons tied to how much you spend. Free shipping and monogramming. Really helpful CSR’s (for the rare times I can’t figure it all out on the web site.
19. You gave me a straight answer when I asked a tough question (or a question you just couldn’t answer) - you didn’t bluff or blow smoke. Example: Amica Insurance after I rear-ended a dump truck. Since the truck had no damage - the truck driver just laughed - it made more sense for me not to make a claim. Amica would have been ahead in the long run by raising my premium, but they were very thorough in going through the pros and cons with me, called me back, followed up, etc.
November 20th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
How about:
You acknowledged my wife and included her in the discussion about how you could meet OUR needs.
You also checked your records and knew what transactions I’d had with you before.
You suggested accessories, but backed off when you saw I wasn’t interested.
You surprised me by exceeding my expectations.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:57 pm
Mary, this is really good!
Your common sense about the things in business that get over thought and under delivered is always refreshing.
Always!
Thanks for shaking the silly business tree once again.
November 21st, 2006 at 6:08 am
I like the last one the best. Please. Give me what I want, rather than what you’ve got. I think there’s a whole new world of customer-driven, or better yet, customer/vendor collaborative things about to happen.
By the way, I got to your site via Beachwalks with Rox.
November 21st, 2006 at 8:08 am
Maureen,
I’ve also always been treated fairly and well by Geico. I can get to a live person (fairly) quickly, they act human and are knowledgeable. Ditto Discover card. And, my good experiences with both make me smile when I see their commercials (”yep, that’s my companies!”) Although, is it just me or is Burt Bacharach looking really really scary these days?
Glenn, It truly is the “little” things isn’t it? Old-fashioned common courtesy and common sense beats any whiz-bang CRM software or system every time. And, knowing the history of the customer is really a key success element.
Mike - as always thanks for stopping by. Now, if we could get just get common sense to be a tad more common!
Joe - Yes, Beachwalks is way cool, isn’t it? Rox and Shane have been pushing the envelope and working hard the past couple of years - and it shows (No pun intended). And, of course Lexi, the dog, works hard too!
November 21st, 2006 at 9:23 am
[…] Why you did/might get my business 2. You looked me in the eye. 3. You spoke in complete sentences (and weren’t snapping your gum.) 6. You recognized my personality type and presented to me accordingly. 7. You set my expectations re next steps and service right up front. 8. You called and let me know what was going on when you realized you couldn’t meet those initial expectations. 9. Your voice mail tells me how to contact you in the event of an emergency or how to reach a live person. 11. Your web site is both interesting and comfortable. I can easily find (relevant) information; you don’t force me to fill out long form just to download a document; you write in a conversational tone. 16. You made it easy for me to buy (versus suffering through being “sold.â€) […]
November 21st, 2006 at 2:17 pm
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November 22nd, 2006 at 1:45 am
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December 11th, 2006 at 8:48 am
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