As vendors, we are in the business of winning customers to our side. Being polite was a given during the 1900’s. However, nowadays politeness is being dismissed, and replaced by speed of mission. When was the last time you took a step back and looked for politeness in your dealings with customers? If you don’t find it, we highly encourage you to view politeness as a sign of respect for potential customers, current customers, and associates. Your repeat and referral business will appreciate it.

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We live and work in a world that is so fast paced, that we only have about 30 seconds to make a good first impression. What are you doing with that first 30 seconds with a potential customer? Are you planning this out? Are you rehearsing the dialogue? Are you considering human interest, and human relations principles as you manage your team, and their handling of first impressions?

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Deliverables must equate to what expectations were promised. Otherwise, promises made are nothing more than empty words that often create negative customer experiences. Too many negative experiences, and your company will be on the next bus to the business boneyard. We encourage you to make sure the Omelette delivered to table # 9, looks just like the picture in the menu. We encourage you to make sure promises are reinforced by a proven track record of delivering what you promise, not what you think you will deliver, or what you hope to deliver.

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Sometimes when we try and fix a customer problem, we bump into the discovery that we are making things confusing, and complicated for customers. How cool would it be if a team of employees were to go out and look at every aspect of the business, and uncover other opportunities to exchange complication with simplification? This could be a fun summertime project. Simplicity is admired by most customers.

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The business landscape is littered with scads of operators that tend to sweep issues under the rug, rather than roll up their sleeves and try to fix issues. Problem sweepers are a dime a dozen. Sweepers are easy to find, but solvers are a rare commodity in today’s world of apathetic workers. Next time you’re confronted with a difficult issue, we encourage you to look at it as an opportunity in disguise. Issue resolution allows a worker to develop new problem-solving skill sets. Problem solvers win the hearts of associates and customers, and they can command higher salaries than sweepers.

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People feel disconnected and uncomfortable when they’re having a conversation with someone who is only half listening. What amazes me, is how many times we choose to do this in business. Why? If you are trying to win a potential customer to your side, why would you only give them half of your attention in the process? If this is you…perhaps you should think about paying full attention to someone who might be spending money with your company.

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Eye to eye contact builds connectivity during a business conversation. Looking down, or looking away creates customer uneasiness, feelings of alienation, and heightened skepticism. Teach, train and manage, consistent eye to eye contact with buyers, and watch your customer loyalty increase.

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Creating customer confusion is one of the quickest ways to eliminate potential repeat and referral business. To avoid falling into this trap, one of the easiest fixes is to make sure your company is using the same terminology whether you’re talking to an associate, or a customer. This will ensure seamless conversations, comprehension clarity and margin protection.

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