Who is it that you share and care for, in your business relationship?
Is it your suppliers? Your Staff? Your Customers?
It should be all of the above, and everyone else that walks past or comes in contact with your business.
For example, if you are a spare parts supplier - how do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?
By over delivering - a friend's business in Melbourne now not only delivers spare parts to mechanics, but also drinks and small snacks - this means that the mechanics now prefer to order from his company, rather than the big state supplier.
If you are in a fast food environment, how do you care for your staff who are on the front line? Do you celebrate their victories with them (for example dealing with difficult customers, or a very, very busy day).
DO you instead treat them like lab rats doing what they are supposed to be doing - that's all?
If your customer has ordered something, and it's not ready in time to be picked up - do you care enough, DO YOUR STAFF CARE ENOUGH, to go that extra mile and get the order processed and through to them quicker?
I had a great example of this yesterday.
A small electronics franchise called me and asked if I was going to pick up an order I had placed with them today, or could I wait - why? Because there was only one left in store, and they had a paying customer ready to collect it then and there, but if I was prepared to wait a couple of days - I could collect it then.
As luck would have it, I don't need it until next week - so I gave them the go ahead to sell it to the customer standing there. The customer then asked to speak to me, and personally thanked me for getting them out of a bind.
2 hours later - I received a call saying that the order would be in store in 2 days time - or would I prefer to have it delivered to me at work, as I had helped them out. Wow! Great service.
Their staff cared enough to know that if they sold an existing customers order, that customer would quite rightly get upset - but by going the extra mile - they have won not only me - but also the other customers loyalty - and I have already told this story to 10 other people in the time since.
Great customer service, and they care for their customers.
This post was written for B4C by Earl Pilkington.
