What type of door does your place of business have? Does it just open and close or do you have a revolving door that keeps your customers coming back?
Every business person knows the more successful you are at retaining customers/clients the more successful your business will be. The problem is not all businesses understand what is the driving factor to success.
Is it their product or the service they provide? Or is it something else? You need to have an excellent product or service, but the driving force to success is the employees that work for the business.
Take a look at Starbucks, Apple or Verizon, these business believe in continual training for their employees and keeping their employee’s customer service skills sharp because they know that if people are happy with the service they are given they will not only return, but will tell others about the great experience they have at your place of business.
In our medical practice recently we had one of our providers move to another location locally, but it has been amazing how many of her patients have continued to stay in our office because of the great service and caring that our staff gives to them.
Recently, a patient told the medical assistant that was working the front office how glad she was to see him and she was so glad that he did not move with the other doctor because she would have been very disappointed because of the great care she got from those that worked in our office.
People will patronize businesses where they feel that they are respected and valued. Howard Schultz the founder of Starbucks had it right and knew that only by investing in staff and raising their leadership abilities would Starbucks be able to have millions of positive daily interactions with those they serve.
I recently went into a Starbucks while on a business trip and you would have thought that I was a regular in their store by the way they greeted me. The young man at the counter treated me like I was a good friend who happened to come in, and it made me feel really good and welcomed there.
The Starbucks experience is based on five basic principles;
1. Make it your own
2. Everything matters
3. Surprise and delight
4. Embrace resistance
5. Leave your mark
Take these principles and apply them to your job and watch how your business will flourish. Don’t settle for just a regular door for your customers make sure you keep them coming back for more.