One of the great truths of our Mastermind is that we must be more responsive than anyone else. It doesn’t matter what we do for a living, we have artists, writers, poets, faux finishers, healers, coaches, and CEO’s in our Mastermind, and each of us knows we must offer more service than what people expect, because then we will always end up with more – more business opportunities, more referrals, more strong relationships and more chances in life!
It’s not hard to be simply marvelous, especially in how we communicate with people. These days many companies and entrepreneurs do a lousy job returning calls, texts and emails. Just think for a minute, how many times have you called a company to sign up for their service and waited 24 hours or more for them to return the call? Did you call them again? What happened?
Many times they do nothing for you even after you’ve place the order. Typically these companies do nothing to reach out to you ever, and they wonder why retention is weak.
What’s sad is their responsiveness is not surprising. It’s closer to the norm than you may realize. So, if you want to be marvelous in the eyes of your customers, do the little things well and you’ll be remembered and they will use you again.
To be a member of our Mastermind we must:
- We must return their calls, texts and emails right away.
- We must be easy to work with.
- We must be flexible and accommodate their situation.
- We must focus on how we can help them get what they want.
- We must ask them how we can best serve them and listen to what they tell us.
I love this article! Great customer service no longer seems to be the norm. Therefore those who are willing to walk the extra mile have one more avenue to stand out.
Responsiveness, like many other things in life, is a matter of either having a great habit, or, if that habit is not there yet, it is a matter of training yourself to adopt such habit. It may also be a matter of having good systems. How do you keep track of the people who need to get back to? Do you use a software like Goldmine, a calendar, to-do-lists or mindmaps? There are many systems that can work – the important thing is to pick one you like and actually use it consistently.
The “sundown” rule is crucial as well; never put off ’til tomorrow what can be completed before the sun goes down today. It’s surprising (at first) what a huge difference it makes in business relationships when you do something as simple as just following up! Is a 3-minute phone conversation worth having a customer for life?
Customers are the life blood of a company. Many times the management at the top forgets this very simple but important fact, and this type of attitude will trickle down the chain. This is why customer service is at a all time low these days. In this new economy those companies will either die or will have to change their ways to stay around.
If we are to thrive in the new world, we need to get back to some old ways of doing business. Do you remember a time when service was everything. There was always someone to help you out at a store, and usually that person would go out of their way to help you. Through their actions they accomplished to things. they help you fined the product or service you needed, and they helped their store or business to make a sale. They also had job security because as long as they produced sales and the company made money everybody had a job. These days we call it a Win Win.
Service + Value = $$$$
This is my New Years resolution. Excellent to our clients and customers. It is what sets business apart in these days. I appreciate this reminder!