Customer Awareness Everywhere You Go

So one thing I do to help me become a stronger customer advocate is to observe how other companies manage their customer relationships. Every day we have the projects and errands where we get to interact with businesses. This can include filling up your tank at a gas station, going out to lunch, picking up groceries, calling customer service at a company etc. I've made it a game to watch how employees treat me and what they do to be more customer-focused. Here are some observations for this week:
- Customer focused versus good marketing: One local restaurant had a message on their cash register that says "We Love Our Customers". Ok that's nice marketing but do you love your customers? If so, show me. When I walk in, I would like to be greeted with a smile and have someone ready and willing to take my order. I promise I am no diva and don't expect anything more than the next person but if you say "We Love our Customers" then show it!
- Make it easy to do business with you. Last night I needed to do a quick cd order for my husbands music cds. I found a site and it was the easiest order I've probably placed in a long time. I felt like they were holding my hand the whole way. They helped me upload my artwork, they had FAQs on every page and answered every question. It was an awesome experience and I will definitely buy again.
- Train your employees to support your goals. One local grocery store promotes they want to exceed your expectations and they do! They have the happiest employees anywhere from the store manager to the bag boy. And they are all just so willing to help - I can ask for anything and they will go out of their way to help me. For example, last year for Christmas I wanted to get my husband something with Rachel Ray. I asked the Store Manager if I could have a display with her on it when they were done with it instead of them throwing it away. He had an extra one and just gave it to me. Wow was my husband surprised to find a cardboard cutout of Rachel Ray under our Christmas tree. This is just one example, I have quite a few more.