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CUSTOMER APPRECIATION
WHY SAYING THANK YOU IS IMPORTANT
Article taken from the Great Business Ideas-Word Press Filed under: Entrepreneur, Home based business, Small business, customer experiences, getting attention, increasing sales.
Earlier tonight I was having a conversation with small business owners that was very enlightening to me. We had a round table discussion about why somebody else that owned another business and why he should have been really busy on a Saturday night but he wasn’t.
As I was listening in somebody said “boy when he first bought this place he used to have a ton of repeat customers but they all just stopped coming in.” Of course I asked “Does anybody know why?” The answers all came at me at once —comes in to work on the business (inventory, bookkeeping) while the business is open and doesn’t say hi to employees or customers, doesn’t care if people come back, doesn’t ask customer if they are enjoying their time there, let’s his emotions show. To the everyday person he runs a great business and is extremely social on most days with customers.
So now I ask what do you do to keep customers coming back to your business? These are the responses I hear “I serve a good product”, “If I have a customer who is unhappy I give them something free,” I make sure all the employees are running a top notch business”, “I always smile and say thank you to all my customers”.
They are all things that help to give a good experience but they don’t get customers directly back. It seems owners don’t understand the difference between good customer service and showing customers gratitude and appreciation.
Being humble enough to share how their patronage allows you and your business to be successful creates an environment where they really want to come back again. Taking the extra steps to show your customers that you care and they really mean everything to the well being of your business. Because without them there is nothing.
Just remember customer appreciation and gratitude is part of who you are as a person and as a business owner, IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU DO WHEN TIMES ARE TOUGH AND BUSINESS IS SLOW. The attitude behind customer value and appreciation is the reason I am writing this. Honestly none of the customer appreciation ideas in the world will work if you aren’t truly grateful for every single one of your customers.
What can I do right now to make this person feel better about themselves than they did before they walked into my business?
A customer feels something positive about you or your business that they can’t get if they went to another business. Simply when they have that experience they want to come back. Just look at the place you’ve been that you would recommend to a friend, something that was memorable enough that it stuck out enough to tell your friend about it!
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