Day 16: Does the Love Matter?

Halfway through! And then this clown crawls out of the woodwork. To everyone who knows me – hi! To those that don’t – hi! Read around and listen to all the bad stuff people say about me – it’ll help you understand my warped writing (as much as anyone can).

So back to the question: Does the love matter?

Well, does it?

Have you ever wondered how and why people choose to do business with a particular company? Have you ever thought about why you do? Sure, a lot of these reasons are simply convenience, proximity or need, but the products you buy which have viable alternatives from different companies – ever wonder why you choose the way you do?

As a business owner, I have wondered, and analyzed, and over-analyzed, and… let’s just say I’ve looked into it. For a business such as mine which requires a steady, consistent stream of chemicals, mixes, and materials, as well as a healthy dose of reliability, I cannot take chances with an incorrect supplier or brand choice – my business would come to a halt. I have one main (multi-million dollar global) brand I use. Do you know why I chose them?

Customer love.

Not our particular brand of customer love, but the company’s extremely concerted effort to put just as much work into relationships with my tiny, tile installation business as they do with companies such as Home Depot. So how do I know that? (And why am I asking so many questions today?) I know that because I had a problem with one of their products.

Problems with my materials do not make me happy. When it became quite apparent I was not solving anything by whining to a bag of thinset (that’s the sticky stuff you use to adhere tile to a wall, floor, your competitor’s truck windows) I decided to call their technical support line. I know, brilliant, right? A really friendly woman answered, took down my information, where I was working, etc., and told me someone would be in contact within the hour. Thirty-five minutes later a truck pulled up in front of the house and one of the company’s technical reps hopped out.

My jaw dropped. I was flabbergasted for two reasons: I expected a simple phone call, and I rarely find the opportunity to use the word ‘flabbergasted’ in normal conversation.

This wasn’t quite the phone call I was expecting. The rep helped me get the problem solved, suggested a different product for that particular application, and even had two bags of it in the back of his truck for me.

THAT is customer service.

And that made me quite a happy business owner. At this point, they pretty much had me as a customer for life. But that wasn’t the end of it.

Two days later, I did receive that phone call – a follow-up from none other than the president of the company. Remember, this is a multi-million dollar company that supplies the entire world with their product. The president of the company called me to make sure the problem was solved, that I was happy, and to see whether I had any questions.

That is extreme customer love.

As a customer, it makes me feel like I’m not alone when a problem arises. That there is always someone with a solution, answer, or suggestion I may need to keep my customers happy. I think it means that, no matter how large your company, you need to understand what your product or service means to your customers. Why do they buy from you? And how can you make that better?

Figure out that one unexpected thing that will make you stand out from the crowd. It doesn’t need to be huge, expensive or require a load of effort. Just find that one thing that makes you unique (and memorable). Customer love doesn’t require thousands of company reps to immediately respond to your customers, although that would definitely help, but it does require a personal touch.

Make your customers know that there is an actual person behind that brand and that they are not simply another number to your bottom line. Know who they are – personally. Send a thank you email to one or two random past customers every week, just to see how they’re doing – without trying to sell them anything.

Or do what I do – leave them a rubber ducky in their brand new shower.

Of course, if you aren’t their tile contractor that may lend itself more to a restraining order than customer love – choose accordingly.

So to me the answer is yes, most definitely, customer love does matter. Get my attention, solve one of my problems, help me know I’m not alone. You will gain a customer for life.

So when you get halfway through this challenge (today) and might feel that there really isn’t a benefit to all your hard work, think about the products you buy by choice, the ones you simply choose to get from one particular business although it’s widely available. I’m absolutely certain you can trace that reason back to some form of customer love from that company. It works.

What can you do to get your customer’s attention? Tell me in the comments below.