There's nothing quite like a loyal customer
Loyal as a dog. Everyone's heard it and most have experienced it. What a wonderful feeling to have the unconditional love and affection that comes from loyalty. It is the highest form of friendship and the highest form of commitment.
A loyal pet.
A loyal servant.
A loyal friend.
A loyal spouse.
A loyal fan.
Loyal is unyielding, unrelenting and ever faithful; true to the end. It is with that understanding that customer service is centered.
So, how do you get to "loyal" in the relationships with your customers? Simple. Apply the principles that build loyalty in every other aspect of your life. Well, sort of simple. Loyalty is more delicate with customers because there is a balance of money and value. And loyalty is not just granted, it's an earned distinction.
Loyalty is the highest mark.
Loyalty is success.
Loyalty is solid gold.
Loyalty is golden business, and your golden opportunity to win by earning it from others.
But I know you.
You want the easiest answers, don't you?
You want the fastest answers, don't you?
You want the best answers, don't you?
You want the answers that are accepted by others, don't you?
You want the answers that are praised by others, don't you?
You want the right answers, don't you?
You may want to take the highest path of serving others, the "Diamond Rule of Service." If you wouldn't want it done to you, don't do it to someone else.
And, there are some easy answers, but you have to work hard to achieve mastery of them. Here's an easy/hard question and an easy/hard answer:
If you hate it when you get lousy service, why do you give lousy service to others? How do you want to be served? Are you serving the same way?
The customer could care less about you, your company or your company policy, and even less about "why you can't" give them what they want. They want "yes" or help to get to yes. And if you can't help them, they'll go someplace else (and take their money and their word-of-mouth advertising with them).
Ouch. "What can I do to reverse that?" you ask. Easy. Take it one step at a time. Actually, "leap" from where you stand to higher ground to loyal soil. Take a few easy/hard loyalty leaps:
Start out as the happiest, friendliest, most important person in the world.
Set the right tone from the first three words.
Serve them so they remember it and tell others.
Keep up your communication with them after the transaction.
Continue to offer value without expectation of return and you win.
Do it for the most important person in the world. You. Be your best.
Here's some good news if your service is somewhere between mediocre and satisfactory: There are so few examples of memorable service that people write books about the great incidents, and other people buy the books by the millions to read about what should be an ordinary everyday experience.
If you take the everyday customer experiences you now offer and turn them into memorable actions, you can establish a dominant leadership position in your community, your region, your market, and your industry just on the strength of your memorable service.
I hope you do.
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of North Carolina-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be e-mailed at salesman@gitomer.com (mailto:salesman@gitomer.com)
