When you get a new customer, you want to make sure they feel welcome. You want to treat your customer as though they are a piece of gold or a member of your family and not as a statistic.

Think About How You Feel

Have you ever been standing in a line, and when it comes to your turn to be waited on, the sales associate yells out “next?”

This scenario reminds me of my college days, years ago, when we were not students, we were social security numbers.

One is made to feel like they are on an assembly line with other widgets and it is now “their” turn.

This is not exactly the best way to get a warm and fuzzy feeling and hardly a way to build a relationship with your customers.

If you were to ask most people who have been working in sales, they will tell you that their customers really appreciate being treated as special and not as a statistic.

This Works in Reverse Too

I remember, years ago, waiting in an office to get precertified for a surgical procedure. I sat in a room with a lot of people for a really long time.

 

The gal behind the desk was extremely curt and rather rude as she called us up to the window. The wait was really long and no one was a happy camper.

 

Then my turn finally came, I looked at the gal behind that window, not as a rude statistic wench, but rather as a person who was probably tired and frustrated.

 

She glared at me through angry eyes, just as she had done with those who came before me.

 

I looked into those eyes and said: “you must be exhausted and overworked”.

 

Immediately, her glare melted into a “person” and she said: “yes, I am the only one working here because someone called in sick and we really need another person…”

 

When we were finished with my paperwork, I thanked the gal and left behind a much more relaxed and kind employee because I saw her as a person.

 

Now how long that lasted, I don’t know. But it does clearly illustrate the point that everyone wants to be treated like a person and not a statistic.

Customers are People Too

We all have our daily, weekly, and monthly goals that we must meet.

And with this pressure applied to our daily workday, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of our customers. Remember, it is the customer who is the most important thing when it comes to our company’s existence.

They are the backbone. Without customers, we cease to exist.

They are not only are they the reason we are in business. Don’t forget that the best source of new customers is happy, satisfied current customers through referrals and recommendations.

Here are a few tips to ensure that your customer is appreciated by you and your company, and not viewed as just another number in line.

Address Your Customer by Name

When addressing your customer, make sure you call them by name.

This will put your relationship with your customer on a personal level. And customers like to know that they are remembered. It gives them a feeling of importance with you and your company.

Don’t Rush Them

The last thing the customer wants is to be hurried out the door or rushed off the phone.

Remember, you are running a business where people are your greatest asset.

Use a small business phone system for a more polished way of managing calls.

They give your company a professional auto attendant, a toll-free number, and a seamless transfer of calls to any number you prefer.

You are not on an assembly line manufacturing cars, so don’t treat your customer as though you are.

Be sure to listen to your customer’s needs and questions so you can be sure to provide them with the correct solutions to their problems or needs.

You can even use this opportunity to see if they might need additional add-on products or services.

Remember, it is five times easier to upsell a current customer than to acquire a new one.

Make it Personal (to a point)

There is more beneath the surface of your customers than just the business that they do with you.

People love to talk about themselves, such as their family, their job’s, their pets, their hobbies, etc.

So ask your customer about one of the topics mentioned above. I guarantee they will be delighted to tell you all about it.

This is also a great way to get to know your customer and build a strong relationship with them.

Just be sure to remember that they are your customer and not your friend.

So you don’t want to get too personal or go off on a personal tangent and forget the business at hand.

A strong business relationship is a great opportunity to obtain all of your customer’s business as well as the business of all of their friends and relatives through referrals.

So remember, don’t treat your customer like a statistic, treat them as you would treat one of your friends.

Know Thy Customer

Source: Semarchy.com

Originally published 03/29/2019; updated 04/12/2021 to update content; updated 12/29/21 to add infographic