I’ve heard talk of love not being enough when it comes to dealing with customers (real and prospective).
While I understand that there needs to be a clear differentiation between loving your customers and giving away the store for free, I think we could all benefit from some self-examination; in particular, giving thought to the idea of bringing more unconditional love into our businesses.
Well, that was a mouthful, wasn’t it? 😉
In the world of business and customer service, love often gets a bad rap: “That’s not my department,” “Will I get paid extra for this?”, “This is a business not a charity!”
Sure, we like being helpful and offering value (we wouldn’t be Customerlovers if we didn’t!) but for many people, the idea of giving away that value without getting something in return is absurd. A waste of time. They don’t see themselves as being callous – it’s just being practical, they say. Their belief is that their time is worth money and if they keep giving it away for free, well…people would begin to question the true value of that time. Sound familiar?
We’ve all heard the rhetoric about how we need to “establish ourselves as an authority” in order to be taken seriously in our businesses. And authority figures command high fees for their services… they don’t go around giving away free advice, do they?!
Umm, if they’re smart, they do.
What better way to demonstrate your value than to offer people a little taste of it first? Of course, here at Customerlove, the idea of “giving away a little bit of the awesome” is what brought people together from all corners of the Internet. It’s what Pink Spoon marketing is all about. Clearly this group gets it.
But for those that worry about wasting too much of their time giving stuff away or paying attention to non-buyers, think about the times that you’ve been impressed by a salesperson or company. Was it someone that tried to hard-sell you? Or was it the person that courted you – always being around to offer their help, knowledge and good advice, all with a friendly smile? Who would you be more apt to buy from?
Customerlove doesn’t have to be exhausting.
We won’t ALWAYS have to go that extra mile when we don’t feel like it. But making the decision and commitment to do it more often than not can reap huge karmic rewards for you – and your business – on the backend. And if you’re having trouble relating to the idea of Karma or think it sounds too “woo-woo,” I suggest you read this.
What about you? Do you routinely go the extra mile and sacrifice your time and energy to help others – those who are paying customers as well as those who may be just browsing?
