Think about it. What does your service signal to your customers? Does it signal that they are crammed into the back of the bus with the rest of the pack with seats that don’t recline (although, the seat ahead of me always reclines), food that you’d be hesitant to give your dog, and service that is just this side of surly? Or do you make them feel like they are the most valued and important customer that you have?

About a year ago, we were referred to a printer, Col-Tab. I was excited about the printer for several reasons: they are located within about 10 minutes of our office, their prices were the best that I’ve seen, and the person referring me was more than satisfied with the quality of their work.

I had only one reservation. The person referring me is in marketing at Nike and she uses this printer. For clarification, Nike is a slightly bigger company than The Kahler Consulting Group and their volume of printing is, shall we say, substantially more than ours. I thought to myself, if this printer is serving Nike, what do they want with us?

I called them anyway and talked to the recommended customer service representative, Caroline. She was very friendly and professional. She also made it very easy for me to transfer files via the internet. So I tried out their service. Full-color one sheet promotion pieces, front and back, for less than half what I’d been paying elsewhere. I have to admit that I was nervous when I went to pick them up. At that price, how good could they be?

I was blown away by the quality. Their “standard” paper was anything but standard. It was the equivalent of at least three upgrades from the other printer. The pieces were beautiful! What really struck me though was how Caroline greeted me. She had time for me. Shook my hand. She made sure that I was happy with the pieces. Nice.

We used them a second time and this was for the material for one of our classes (which I hate to admit, we got to them a bit under the gun). No problem, Caroline assured us. I went to pick up the booklets well ahead of our deadline and when I walked in the receptionist said, “Hello, Bobbi, let me get Caroline for you.”

Wow. What an experience. How’s that for an extra cup of blackberries? They treat us like their most important client. They make us feel like we are definitely in the First Class section of their customer compartment. Think we’re loyal as a result?

Here’s my challenge question to you: what can you do to demonstrate to your clients that they are traveling in the First Class section of your business?

Here’s a quick checklist of ideas:

• Do you send thank you cards when someone buys your product or service?
• Do you send relevant articles of interest with a personal note (i.e., “Dear Sue, I remember you said you love Toad Gazer Lilies and I just came across this article on them and how to grow them.”
• What do your response times say to them about how much you value them? That their needs are your needs? That you love them? That you’ll get to them when you can? That their needs aren’t a priority for you?
• Do you extend the niceties of home to them? For example, in our Mastery Program, we invest in providing light refreshments, coffee, tea, juice and soda. Someone recently said that we didn’t “have to” do that. I understand that no one comes to our Mastery Program for refreshments (they come to powerfully grow their business) but if I showed up for a full day program and there wasn’t even coffee, I’d think, “Don’t you like me? Don’t you want me here?”

What are some of the ways that you demonstrate First Class service? I’d love to hear from you!

Copyright © 2004 Bobbi Kahler. All Rights Reserved.

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