I’m so excited to share this piece of my book (this piece of my heart) as we live it every day as a customer, or service provider. This is Step 4 of Five Steps to Stunning Customer Service.
Step 4: Be the customer you want to serve
I was in a remote town, which apparently is known for bad customer service. I commented to my friend as I walked out of a store that all I’ve seen is great customer service. To which she replied, “But Kerrie, you spoke cheerfully to the girl at the checkout, she looked up to find you smiling at her, taking an interest in her – of course she’ll be nice to you”.
Unfortunately, many customers turn up as a ‘great customer’. Make it easy for yourself and for those who serve you! I love being a great customer at every opportunity, from when I shop or dine out, to attending appointments. When someone delivers a cup of coffee to my table, I look them in the eye and thank them. If I have an opportunity, I will acknowledge them for something they’ve done well, for example, being prompt or looking fabulous. I believe that as we focus on the good, we see more of it.
Raise your own awareness of what you focus on. If you’ve ever ridden a bike, you’ll know that if you see the holes in the road and focus on that, saying “I’m not going to hit it, I’m not going to hit it”, you know you’ll hit it for sure! Focus on the best part of the road, and up ahead, that’s where you will end up.
One of the most important things for me is to make people feel important. When shopping I like to thank staff for what they’re doing and tell them they’ve done a great job. My intention is to help them to feel important and valued. We don’t always acknowledge being served, or interact when we’re serving people.
It’s really lovely when someone appreciates the work you do. You’ll never know when that person might pop up in your sphere of influence or business. You never know when you might meet this person again. And you never know how much your kindness meant to them. Look people in the eye whenever you can and smile.
Cheering you on,
Kerrie
PS. Find more in Do Talk To Strangers – How To Connect With Anyone, Anywhere and download free resources from www.kerriephipps.com/6steps to increase your confidence in connecting with anyone!
PPS. Connect with me If you’d like to share this with your team as a Connect With Confidence or Stunning Customer Service workshop! I’m bringing this to teams across Australia and Asia – and across the globe via livestream. Let’s connect and make a bigger difference :)
PPPS. And just in case you wondered – this cool cafe pictured above is in Singapore. I think it was between Bugis and Arab Street :)
