San Francisco Restaurant Blog

In any relationship, if a person feels you have cheated, used or tricked them, they will begin to seek ways to “get back” what they perceive you took from them. In their mind, you have taken advantage of them and now they want “it” back.

Customer Service Professionals want to make sure their Customers do not develop these feelings and do so by practicing relationship building during their transactions. You can begin the process of building these relationships by using specific “rules of engagement” and thereby prevent the unhappy circumstances described above.

First, be as transparent as possible in your transactions. You can do this by stating everything upfront, pointing out limitations of your service or product, verifying that the information received by the Customer is reality and not conjecture on your end, describing specific courses of action with timelines and answering any question posed to you as honestly as possible. By becoming transparent in your business, you allow the Customer to see you as an asset and someone that they can count on.

Subterfuge and delay tactics only serve you and tell the Customer that you may be doing something untrustworthy, thereby opening the door to accusations and the never ending cycle of mistrust/retribution/mistrust.

Second, take the time to view yourself and your organization from the set of shoes you do business with, your Customer. Take a walk through your shop, call in, ask for a brochure over the phone, read through all the material on the website, read all the signage posted, ask for help from someone in your organization, talk to another Customer visiting your store as a Customer (this one sometimes gets you information that the rest of your staff wish you would not find out) or do anything that gives you a true picture of your company and your personnel.

Now you can see what your Customer sees and hears. This might come as a surprise to you. It’s not the experience you think it is.

Next, start taking an extra step. That step is the extra minute to explain something, the extra second to point something out, the extra smile to show you care, the extra walk across the floor to greet them personally, the extra 5% off, the extra cup of coffee, the extra training session for all new staff, the extra in stock item, the extra personnel on duty during the busiest time of the day and the extra attention to detail that separates good service from a fantastic experience!

Then, ask them for feedback, and take action when necessary. There is not a survey company out there conducting surveys for their health. They conduct surveys to gather information about a product or service and companies use that information to make changes. Good surveys ask about issues, great surveys ask about actions.

Actions by definition, are what a company does in the interest of the Customer. Actions by the company in the interest of the company is a very different thing. Great surveys are good at getting to this information. Asking for feedback the right way is respecting the Customer and their preferences. Taking action on those items that require attention is respecting the future of the company’s business.

Finally, Thank Your Customer. Thank them for continuing to use your service. Thank them for spreading the good word about what you do. Thank them for choosing you over ten other competitors. Thank them for just “stopping by” ( one of several signs that you are on the right road), Thank them for trusting you to take care of their needs and Thank them for the future.

A future that includes them continuing to do business with you.

Doing these things does not guarantee that someone will not feel “cheated, used or tricked.”
Not doing these things guarantees that they absolutely will feel that way though. And in today’s “give it to me now” world, can we afford to give away any one thing that separates us from the other guys?

The relationships we forge with our Customers?