Tips To Create A Winning Customer Experience
 By Alex R. Merriman

Your business shouldn’t aspire to sell the most inexpensive products or services. It shouldn’t even aspire to be the biggest business on the block. Instead, your business should aspire to create an experience that will exceed the expectations of every customer who walks through the door.

A great experience makes customers feel valued. It creates trust between you and your clients. In short, a great experience gives customers the warm fuzzies. And that’s what keeps them coming back.

The customer experience grows out of a thousand little details. By attending to the details, your small business will shine brighter than all of your competitors. Here are a few details that often get lost in the rush of doing business:

Share Knowledge
If you and your staff demonstrate knowledge about your products and services, you’ll win sales.

Here’s an example. I went shopping for landscaping shrubs last weekend at a local nursery. The sales clerk couldn’t tell me which plants were best suited for shade and which for sun. That’s pretty basic information. But since the clerk couldn’t answer that question, I assumed the business didn’t know its products. Worse, I assumed they didn’t care about helping me. I took my business to another nursery.

Can you and your employees explain to customers the differences between similar products? If so, you can help customers make smart buying decisions and cement a long-term relationship.

Can you suggest alternative products or services that might work better for the customer or save the client money? If so, you’ll win the gratitude of customers.

Train yourself. Train your employees. Learn to be knowledgeable and helpful. Customers will take notice.


Dress Your Business For Success
Customers judge your business by its appearances. And a good first impression goes a long way to gaining customer trust.

Real estate agents who taxi clients around in a clean car appear neat and organized. That gains them the client’s trust. Agents appear disorganized if they must shuffle piles of paper out of the car seats to make room for clients. They risk losing trust.

Main Street shops with sparkling clean windows and sidewalks swept clean appear welcoming and inviting to customers. Well-lit parking lots appear safer than shadowy ones.

Office buildings with neatly trimmed landscaping and a fresh coat of paint give a professional impression. Those with faded exteriors set among a tangle of weeds appear less professional and therefore less trustworthy.

Spiff up your store. Wash your delivery van. Show your pride. Customers will be impressed.

Show Appreciation
Your customers put food on your table. You can’t survive without them. Show them appreciation at every opportunity. Little things mean a lot.

Recognize your customers by name when they enter your store. Teach your employees to do the same.

Remember a customer’s preferences. It makes customers feel valued. Here’s an example.

Last year I bought a Mission-style antique table from a local antique shop. It was my first purchase at the shop. Ever since that day, the shop owner calls me when a piece of Mission furniture arrives in the store. On average, she calls about once a month, just to let me know she has a product I might be interested in. She won me over. Whenever I go shopping for antiques, I go to her shop first.

Thank clients for doing business with you. Thank them verbally. Send thank-you cards. Take them to lunch.

Show your best customers the most appreciation. Give them occasional discounts as a gesture of goodwill. Give them a freebie every now and then. A free delivery. Free shipping on an order. A free pair of socks when he buys a pair of shoes.

Customers will reciprocate. They’ll give you their business.

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