Posted by tim in I am BORED! on May 17, 2006

I remember back when I was in college, in my "Introduction to Business" class, we had to do a group project. In that project, we had to profile a local company, explain their method of operation, and suggest areas of improvment.

When it was my turn to speak in front of the class about the business, I spoke of the company's customer relations, and how customer satisfaction was the cornerstone of maintaining a successful business. When I was done, the instructor basically yelled at me in front of the class and lectured me about how happy customers aren't really that important to a business, and that there are other more important factors.

Well, Mrs. Hale, here's proving you wrong:

At the seminar I went to last week, the key topic was customer satisfaction and happiness. In a nutshell, the speaker stated that if a customer is satisfied and happy with how you have treated them, they will be likely to return. If they return multiple times and receive the same quality of service, they will begin to trust you. And on down the line, if the customer trusts you, you will have more leverage when it comes time to sell them items or offer services. This means that you will be able to easier push products and services, with a much higher chance of the customer accepting them, thus, giving you the opportunity to make a bigger sale, which in turn will drive the gross profits higher.

In the latest issue of a magazine we get at the shop, National Oil and Lube News, there is an article about a manager of a quick lube. This manager was able to earn the trust and respect of enough customers (about 110 a day) in the first year to maintain a $95-$100 ticket average, pushing total sales to over $700,000!

Since the customers at the shop where I work are now experiencing a much friendlier and eager-to-help staff than they had in the past, I have a feeling we may be able to see such a change within the next year or so. The trick is maintaining the positive atmosphere and serving the customer's needs.

I think that in the next few weeks or so I will be suggesting something to the Boss Lady and Boss Dude. That something will be a sort of "customer response card", only in an online form. Using this form, I hope to see what the customers actually think of the service we give them.

You can read the article on NOLN's website at http://www.noln.net/columns/2006/5-06/features/savage.htm

  • Not to mention that if your customers are happy, they'll refer other people to you.

  • Exactly.

    We had a perfect example of that today. A new customer came in and said right off the bat, "If you guys do a good job, I will be back with this vehicle in the future, and with other vehicles of mine."

    When we were done, all she could say was, "Wow." weE dUn guod!

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