1 of 6

Write now Article Tools

"Hi! How are you today?!" the woman asked as I walked up to the restaurant counter.

By the tone of her voice, I could tell she was genuinely glad to see me as a customer. It wasn't faked or forced, and to be honest it caught me a little off-guard as I ordered. You see this was a fast-food restaurant, where usually the focus is to rush the customer through the line as soon as possible and sometimes without the possibility of direct eye contact. By the time I got my food at this restaurant however, the service was also faster than I expected.

Due to the service I received that day, I'm going to go back to that restaurant more often, even though another restaurant in the same franchise is closer to my home. The concept of going above what people expect can be applied to any business, often not with more money but with a change in attitude.

I would say that the woman that greeted me at the counter didn't make any more money than employees at other locations, but she certainly seemed to enjoy her work more. Long-term the attitude promoted by that restaurant going to turn into greater life success for the employees, success for the business, and great relations with customers. All it took was just small changes and the goal of wanting to provide quality service to customers.

As consumers, we're almost used to being treated like numbers in many areas. All other things being equal, if a business wants to get an edge on their competition they can do it by treating people better than what they're used to being treated. It really can be as simple as employees just being friendly and just seeming happy to see you. Customers like to feel appreciated as well. If you have the ability, learning repeat customer's names can also begin to establish a loyal relationship. In short, when people become more than "just a customer," your business becomes more than "just a store."

This also applies to how you handle problems that occur within your business with existing customers. In other words, never assume you can treat a loyal customer any way you want and expect them to stick around. I recently had an error with a bank where I'd been a customer since the age of 3. In normal situations like this, it's hard to mess up that kind of loyalty on a single mistake. In this case however not only did the manager have an "I don't really give a care" attitude about the issue, but the problem was only half-fixed. The end result is they've now lost what would have been a lifetime customer, not because of the error itself but how it was handled.

In reality, customers know you're human and don't expect things to always be perfect. When customer issues come up however, businesses really need to listen. The situation isn't "the customer is always right," because they may not be in some cases. It should be more like "the customer is always respected." Making the extra effort just to explain why a situation happened can go a long way. Often customers are just confused about policies and procedures businesses take for granted, and that's frustrating.

In conclusion, going beyond what's expected to serve your customers will not only impact your bottom line but help your reputation grow as well in relation to your competitors. Doing the right thing when it comes to people does pay off financially compared to cutting corners and watering-down the quality of your product or service.

Learn more about this author, Patricia Gilliam.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Business demeanor: How to be customer-service friendly?
We want to hear your view. Write now!