Yesterday I watched a business owner in action who loves her customers. She was telling a potential new client about her doggie daycare. As they stood in the lobby by the window which looks into the daycare, Heather pointed out different dogs. “That’s Shelby. She’s so tired today. She came in and just stood against the wall. The black one over there with the tuxedo front is Jasper. He’s such a squirrel. The one with the three legs is Josephine. She got hit by a car and was taken to the Humane Association. The vet couldn’t save her leg and had to amputate it. She was here for daycare while she was being fostered by one of our employees. While she was here, one of our clients fell in love with her and adopted her. The client named her Josephine to fit in with her brother Napoleon.”
“They all look like they are having so much fun,” Sue, the potential client responded.
“Oh, they do,” Heather replied. “Due to the heat, today we had several clients bring in their dogs and hand us the leash. ‘My dog is just crazy!’ all of them said. Here they can run and play in air-conditioned comfort.”
“Right now my dog is home in the kitchen,” Sue added. “I think he would love being here.”
The conversation turned to training, and Heather mentioned a teaser course in agility that was starting Monday night. “I’ve always wanted to train my dog in agility,” Sue said, excitedly.
“You’d love this,” Heather explained. “We take everything very slowly so that it’s easy for both you and your dog. We had a golden retriever who didn’t want to walk up the ramp. He wouldn’t respond to any kind of treat, not even raw meat. We finally got him to walk up by placing his ball at the top.”
“Sign me up,” Sue confirmed. “I’ll fill out the form for the doggie daycare and get back to you with that, too.”
After Sue left, Heather walked over to me and my dog. “Dusty, how are you today?” she asked while stroking Dusty under the chin. “Did you get your dental work done? Were you a good girl?”
Watching Heather’s interaction with people clients and doggie customers reminded me of a conversation that she and I had had last week. “Chad and I were kayaking up north last weekend. He told the others with us that I would run into some dog that I knew. When we got to the spot where we were planning to put our kayaks into the water, a dog ran up to me. It was Harley. Chad claims that I run into customers everywhere we go.”
She recognizes them and knows their names instantly.
I’ve given you a few examples of Heather‘s knowledge of her customers. Astoundingly, fifty or more dogs were in daycare yesterday, and Heather knew all their names and histories. She knows their owners, too.
When a business person knows her customers, she speaks volumes to prospective clients. Rather than saying, “I know my customers,” Heather illustrates that she does by recognizing and telling stories about them. She remembers their backgrounds and histories. She knows them because they are individuals and important to her. She communicates that to others without making an effort to do so.
We all like to do business with those who remember us. After all, the most important words to each of us are our names. When our names are remembered, we are impressed. Add something else about us, and we become loyal customers. This is not from neediness or shallowness but from wanting to do business with those who have our best interests in mind. We want to do business where everybody knows our names.
How many of your customers’ names do you know?
No comments:
Post a Comment