Why Making People Feel Important is Always Essential in Business
Last week I had a very apparent reminder of something crucial when running a business. How you make people feel as a customer is far more important than the product or service you’re offering. I believe that in many cases, we are perfectly primed as small business to deliver excellent customer service and market it as an advantage compared to products/ services offered by bigger businesses!
Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing big brands that I believe nail customer service every time throughout the sales process and in their retention of customers. Think about the experience you get when you shop with Apple or Tiffany & Co, it’s high-level, high-quality and despite the volume of customers they have, it always feel unique to you. Even the unboxing of their products is special!
But big brands don’t always offer such attentive care and take the time to get to know their clients. Although many brands provide the same or similar services/items, customers always relate to one better than the other and develop loyalty to their favourite brands. Preferred brand isn’t always driven by price - it can be down to totally personal reasons. In fact, if a brand has developed a great relationship with you, your loyalty tends to to no longer be swayed by price within reason. A post-pandemic research article even showed that 89% of companies, that lead with customer experience first, perform better financially than their peers!
“People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel.”
I have always loved this quote. It is so true for so many aspects of life, including when it comes to business and sales.
Today we are bombarded with choices, so businesses need to stand out in the crowd. I have talked a lot recently about authenticity and personality and the importance of showing the real you or having a brand voice and personality, but the other key ingredient is how you make people feel. This is delivered through the service you offer when people buy from you or sign up to your offering.
At the end of the day, it’s not even the benefits that are driving your dream audiences’ purchase decision; rather, it’s their’ expectations about the feelings they will get from the benefits of what you offer. They want to live the dream you are selling them through your marketing.
This not only applies to before the purchase is made, but also once you have that client or customer, how you keep them loyal! It is also those warm, fuzzy feelings from your customers that will support the power of word of mouth. If you made your client feel good, cared for and important, they are more likely to come back themselves as well as recommending to family and friends. Ever got a personalised note in a package? I know I always love the little touches like this and they always make my purchases seem extra special.
I mentioned right at the top that I had a really clear reminder of how service and how you’re made to feel can affect how you feel about a business. The reminder came during my recent house move.
As you may have seen on my Instagram, we have finally moved into our new home in the UK after relocating from Chicago in the summer. Having moved a lot since meeting my husband 18 years ago, I would say I have become quite an expert in what makes a great moving experience. Unfortunately, last week was the worst ever move by a long shot.
Moving house is often cited as one of the most stressful things you can do. Therefore in my opinion, service is paramount. Granted not everyone is as crazy as us and moves quite so much, but at the end of the day I know plenty of people that will move locally and they won’t be using this company. Sadly, we didn’t actually even choose this company. Because we moved from the US, the move was organised through an American company and the UK partner was chosen by a company rather than us. This quite typical when you move abroad, but the service we received fell short of our expectations!
I won’t bore you with details, but a lack of organisation on their part, the lead of the move turning up with no knowledge of what we have paid for and therefore what we expected, compounded with an extremely unhappy workforce who spent the whole time complaining about what they earnt (below the minimum wage) to me along with no care and respect for our belongings left me feeling angry, stressed and lacking in confidence. We have multiple things broken, including a couple of things that are irreplaceable and highly sentimental.
Would I ever use them again or recommend their services? Most definitely not. Their service (or lack thereof) also meant extra days of sorting for us, as they literally just left things all over the floor. It was terrible and it absolutely ruined the excitement of moving into, what I hope, is our forever home. The already-long moving process became even longer, and even more unpleasant.
So enough about them and their terrible service. Let’s make sure you have all the tools you need to make sure you can go the extra mile for your clients and customers.
How to make sure you’re a customer-centric business
Here are just a few simple ways you could try today to make your clients feel extra special:
1. Show genuine appreciation for their business.
This can be done in all kinds of ways. It could be including a handwritten note when you send out an order (we love how Shannon from @houseofshan does this). For service-based businesses, how about a personalised gift? I love seeing some of gifts @shop.thegift studio prepares for real estate clients in Chicago or when you stay at an Airbnb and they have a little welcome pack and note. They don’t have to cost a lot, it’s the thought that counts the most.
2. Check in with your clients
whether through a personalised email sequence you have set up or a quick call, check in after the sale when appropriate to show you care and listen to their feedback.
3. Actually listen to their feedback!
Whether that is a little survey or through the above mentioned calls, feedback is a useful tool for you as a business to make sure you’re always reassessing and improving your offer when needed.
4. Think up solutions to your client’s problem & solve them
These can be small solutions, but when done well, they have the ability to set yourself apart from other businesses and even go viral in the media! Lego have done this really well. When a 7 year old boy had saved up for a Lego Ninjago Ultrasonic Raider, only to find a piece was missing, not only did they send him a replacement but they also sent him some extras to add to the boy’s collection. Not only did Lego get brilliant press for this but they arguably gained at least one lifelong customer!
5. Make the ordinary, extra-ordinary.
Perhaps through your service or social media, make something usuallyy routine or boring into something entertaining. I recently read about a Southwest flight attendant, who did a really funning safety briefing. She turned something that often has passengers turning off into something special, helping nervous clients relax and made it attention-grabbing and memorable.
good news travels
For many small businesses this is the busiest time of year. To drive revenue, even if you have the best product in the world, the way you will grow faster and more sustainably is through service and how you make people feel! And remember, one good turn deserves another and customer loyalty and recommendations are are priceless when growing your business.
What are your favourite ways to make your clients feel special? Have you ever been on the receiving end of excellent customer service? Let us know here or on Instagram!