There was a time, not so long ago, that customer service was the key to keeping a customer.
It seems that used to mean something.
Now, it appears to mean nothing.
Wherever I shop, from the grocery to the big department stores, the politeness and appreciation of a customer seems to mean nothing! I have 2 store front websites that people purchase from.
I also have regular customers that frequent my home, all of whom I appreciate deeply.
After all, without them, where would I be? I'll tell you where I'd be, I'd be out working a regular J O B (just over broke) day to day hassle that I probably would not even enjoy.
I'd be fighting the rat race of traffic twice a day, wasting gas, watching my life go by while someone else enjoyed their life to the fullest! NO THANKS! So I give my customer freebies when they start a program with me.
I give them discounts when they buy from me regularly.
I send them thank you cards after their first purchase.
I alert them to monthly specials.
Lastly, I give them incentives for referrals.
Too much you think? Don't you enjoy feeling appreciated in general? Just within your family and friends circle? Of course you do! How would you feel if you went into work one day and there was a card from your boss saying "Thanks for all your hard work!" You would enjoy that! So what about the customer? Do we deserve to go into the corner retail drugstore and be checked out by someone yapping on the phone...
NO.
As direct marketers, should we expect our customers to keep coming to us when we blow them off or make them feel unimportant? You really don't think you're the only game in town do you? If you have no people skills, or do not make them feel appreciated, I am sure they will order from your competition and wait a few days and receive that feeling of appreciation, than deal locally with you and feel unappreciated! Like the old adage says, customer service is everything...
"the customer is always right.
" Think about how you customer must be feeling when they shop with you.
The question you have to ask next, is would you shop with you?