Delighting Customers: How to go the extra mile to develop your business

-A baby crying for milk, the mother feeding and the angel dozing off with a blissful smile.

-Carrying your grandpa or grandma’s bag.

-A parent teaching math to her child.

-A child running errands for the parents.

-Serving your near and dear ones as they grow old.

 

All this is service. And what do you get in return? A ‘thank you’, a sense of satisfaction, gratification of doing a duty.

When we move from the personal front to the professional environment, service takes a very different meaning and form. Basically, it is taking good care of your customer or, may we say guest, and sending him off happy and satisfied. We call this customer service. And the returns come in the form of salary or profits. Sadly, but surely no sooner the guest transforms to customer, than views and serving attitudes take a paradigm shift.

A third dimension to bear in mind is that we play the dual role of service provider and customer every other minute of the day. It is done without choice. For example, when your grocer comes to the bank to deposit his daily collection, you are the service provider. When you visit his store to purchase something, you become his customer. So, both roles keep interchanging without your choice.

 

While on the personal front, you willingly serve your guests, and on the third dimension as a customer, you expect excellent service. Then why does it change drastically when you are the service provider?

Customer service is a mindset where you set your mind to take good care of the customer simply by shifting your perspective about him.

Here are a few thoughts that will help you to WOW your customer.

-See him or her as the guest visiting your home. ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’.

-Welcome the customer with a genuine smile and a warm greeting. Let him feel wanted.

-Always bear in mind, he is the reason you have a job; you draw a salary; have a roof over your head and take care of your family.

-A smile in English looks as good as a smile in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil or in any other language.

-A smile does not have a language, similarly, service also is not confined to any language or accent. It is an attitude.

-When you shift your attitude, you shift your mindset. When you shift your mindset, you shift your customer service.

-When you shift your customer service, you shift your business. Now that is not rocket science!

-Listen and understand the purpose of his visit. A good listener delivers better.

-Value and respect his time.

-A secret to elevate any customer from satisfied to delighted is, to go the extra mile. Now, how to go the extra mile depends on your attitude and creativity. (Or, you may connect with me for the most bizarre ideas)

-Thank your customer for his visit or business, and request him to come again. Your parting gesture determines his next visit to your establishment.

-To reinforce your service commitment, a follow up with the customer would go a long way in lodging the satisfaction bug in his subconscious.

 

 

In fact, in any business environment, we have paying customers and non-paying customers. The non-paying customers get away with a ‘Thank You’, and the paying customer of course, pays.

To learn more about engaging employees, delighting customers and developing your business, please stay glued to this site.

Till then please see every customer as a pleasure and not as a pain. Because, summing in one word, if you see him as a pain, its ‘OUCH’, and as a pleasure, a ‘WOW’.