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customer service

Small Gestures Earn Customers

by Douglas on October 18, 2009

in Happy Customers

hand-gesture

All the time, you hear business owners lamenting the fact that it has become so difficult to attract new customers and keep the current ones yet so many fail to do simple things to gain and maintain customers.

How a Small Gesture Earned Our Business

My wife and I stopped in a Pakistani restaurant looking for something on the menu that struck our fancy. We don’t know much about Pakistani food so were were quizzing the hostess, who turned out to be one of the owners, on different menu items and how spicy each dish was.

The owners, a husband and wife team, let us know that they would adjust the spiciness of the dishes to suit our tastes. They asked us what kinds of dishes we like so that they could recommend something that we would enjoy.

Their true desire to share Pakistani cuisine with their guests and to make sure that their guests had good experience was obvious. At first impression, nothing stood out and made us say, “I want to eat here” until the owners showed genuine interest in us.

The restaurant itself was on the plain side. Nothing gave us much feel as to what the food or the dining experience would be like. If we had been treated with pleasant indifference - which is standard in most restaurants - we would have gone to look for another restaurant.

A small gesture on their part earned two new customers. We spoke with them for two minutes at the most and from the two minutes spent talking with us they earned a $26.00 sale that they wouldn’t have made otherwise.

After talking with the owners, we were expecting a good meal and they really delivered. It’s everything we could have hoped for. On the way home, we were already planning when we would return. The true value of our brief conversation comes in the future as we make repeated visits.

Never underestimate the value of a small gesture because small gestures really do earn customers.Smal

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When Your Favorite Business Dies

by Douglas on April 17, 2009

in Business Thinking

The Death of Our Favorite Business

My Favorite Sushi Place

My Favorite Sushi Place

On a visit our favorite takeout sushi place we received some crushing news - the shop would close in two days. Tears welled up in my eyes. I am not saying this for dramatic effect. Tears were nearly spilled. I was shaken. I felt like a good friend just passed away.

We wanted to know why he was closing such a popular place. The owner told us due to the Peso devaluation, his main ingredients which were imported from Japan, had nearly doubled in price. He said that it no longer made sense to keep the doors open. You can’t argue with his logic but it still didn’t console me.

The Strong Bond of a Great Business

I got to thinking. Why did I feel the closure of a business so deeply? It was only a takeout sushi joint. We can always find another. Right? No really…Right?

A great business creates a bond. It becomes part of you. You don’t think of as just place trying to separate you from your money. It is a constant in your world. A friend. And a comfort.

Yamada the Owner

Yamada the Owner

Yamada, the owner of my sushi place, took pride in his business and deeply cared about his customers. We never really talked much but he always had a question for me and on my next visit he would ask a follow up question. He kept track of what happening in his customer’s lives and enjoyed being a part of them.

I will miss the food but what I will miss more is the way the restaurant made me feel - alive, accepted and part of something.

How deep is the bond between you and your favorite business?

Read more about customer relationships: Business Rule #1 - Care for People

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