When is the last time that you got a heart-felt “Thank You” or “I love this place!” from a customer?
It is amazing that most businesses, big and small, are not laser-focused on getting customer compliments. There should be a section of every store dedicated to posting customer compliments. Everyone in the store should know who gave the compliment and why it was given. It should be in the budget to get compliments.
So how hard is it? It depends on how you approach your business and what influences a compliment in the first place.
Let’s spin it around and look at the opposite of working to get compliments:
When you think about exceptional customer service you should have the three parts of the business in mind - the invitation, the presentation, and the follow up.
A big part of the invitation should be word-of-mouth advertising. Compliments bring this type of marketing. The presentation can be lost in trying to help customers too fast without listening to them. The follow up is the part where the feedback is the strongest. This feedback can either be a compliment or a complaint. If you do not get any feedback just add that customer to the complaint pile.
Do you make it hard to get a compliment? There are many subtle ways of keeping customers from giving you a compliment. The biggest way is to stop asking them how they like your products or service. If a customer buys and leaves the store and no one asks the customer how they like your service they are going to go somewhere else next time. There are plenty of businesses that don’t listen to the customers. Those stores are usually empty soon after opening for business and leave a stunned owner wondering where the customers went.
The sloppiest way to get a compliment is the latest trend - the survey on the receipt. I almost never call the number or enter information online and I am a consultant for small businesses. This approach lacks the personal touch that customers are looking for. Remember Bulldog Rule # 5 - “Every business is a people business“. Removing the human element to the feedback is rude. Do not do this. It is a waste of time and money and it tells your customers you do not care. If you called five new customers and asked how they liked the service you would have more repeat customers.
There are companies that have a toll free number the customer can call and talk with a live person. This is a little better since there is the human element. Make sure the person answering is the person you want to talk with your customers - whether it is a compliment or a complaint. Have a system to follow up with the customer within a couple of days. Letting feedback grow old is another sign of not caring what the customer has to say.
The best way is to ask the customer as they are in the middle of the process of spending money with you and after the transaction is done. You should be prepared to take notes and follow up with the customer. There is no better way to let a customer know they are wanted than to ask for feedback and be honestly interested in what they have to say.
I mentioned posting the compliments earlier in this article. This is not optional. It should be part of your business culture. If you do not reinforce your employees efforts for a job done well, then you let them know that mediocre work is the norm and that is exactly what they will give you.
In closing I want to mention Bulldog Rule # 7 - “Remember to dream about where your business can go and then make it happen“. What would your business be like if you had employees working to get compliments every time they helped a customer? The only thing keeping that from happening is you.
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