The famed leader of the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain Horst Schulze was quoted as saying, “It is about focusing on you, the guest. We want to be connected to the lives of our guests.”
Now replace “guests” with the word customers or clients, and you’ve just unlocked the secret to ultimate business success!
In today’s world of budget focused business management, too many of us are simply targeting the low hanging fruit rather than reaching for the pinnacle of success. No longer is the added cost of pleasing the customer worth the investment. Losing focus on overall customer satisfaction is exactly what will crush your venture into crumbs.
Our grandparents and great-grandparents would be better suited as managers today. They understood the value of connecting with a customer on a personal level. They honored their individual wants, needs, styles and personalities. A firm hand-shake and a swift “good morning” was something that was expected. It came from the genuine concern for one’s well-being, and not as part of a script in an ice breaking sales pitch.
Go the extra distance to make your customers happy. Especially if you have no marketing or advertising budget! Who do you think sells your business better? You, the owner and chief horn blower, or a satisfied customer surrounded by people who appreciate their input?
Remember…news about a good experience travels fast, but news about a bad experience with your business travels at unfathomable speeds. All it takes these days is a tweet or status update, and hundreds or thousands of would be money spenders just heard about your inability to put the customer first.
You want to build up your bank account? Then start building relationships.
Make a real connection with those who matter most.
P.S. This concept should already be seared into your entrepreneurial brain. Just make sure your employees understand how important this action is to your overall shared success.
If you really want to crawl into a marketing mindset, consider slapping your first name and email into the empty boxes on the top left corner of this screen. Doing so will release a massive amount of marketing knowledge that comes to you in the form of a FREE 177 pages Ebook, The Very Best of Bent Business Babble: VOLUME 1. Plus, you’ll receive our newsletter every Tuesday morning at 7AM CST. Not too bad of a deal if you ask me! ~Andy #themarketingguy