Thursday, April 16, 2009

Be Willing to Serve

Service is a quality that applies to more than the hospitality industry. Good service makes every customer happy. Good service makes sales and keeps you in business longer.

Train your employees how to properly take care of a customer. Here are some tips that might assist you:

  • Don't have $$ in your eyes – Customers know when they are feeling used. When you treat them like they are nothing more than a sale, they will notice.
  • Try to help customer with their needs – If it seems simple, that’s because it is. Customers are coming to your business with questions. Don’t throw your marketing jargon at them. Help them with their problems. Sometimes it won’t immediately end in a sale, but good word-of-mouth can lead to a sale.
  • Go out of the way to assist your customer – Show that you care about them by taking time to go out of the way to find solutions for their questions. When I went to PetSmart, one of their greeters literally tracked me down to see if I needed help with anything. Although I did not need help, it stuck in my mind. I will most certainly recommend PetSmart more now because of it.

Although assisting your customer may take more of your time, it is a great benefit to you, your company, and your profits.

Brad Harmon is the President at a leading financing company, First Star Capital (www.firststarcapital.com). Brad is a frequent contributor to online publications and newsletters, and is the author of this blog on commercial financing topics.

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