The other night I was leaving Me ‘N Eds Pizza (http://www.me-n-eds.ca/) with a takeout pizza pie and I passed one of their delivery delivery drivers getting out of his car. “Thanks for being our customer,” he said as we walked by.
It was such a rare occurance in this modern world that I was dumbfounded for a second. As a customer you will often be acknowledged by front line customer service representative (if you’re lucky) but as for other employees within an organization – good luck!
But here was a driver, someone who didn’t even have to acknowledge me, thanking me for being a customer. He obviously “gets it.” He understands that while I may not be directly putting a tip into his pocket, my patronage means that in some small way his organization can operate for another day.
Too many businesses have forgotten this. They outsource or downsource their customer service to a specific department (its even called Customer Service Dept.) but fail to remember that EVERY team member is responsible for generating customer service on a minute to minute basis.
There is a huge sector of government and non-profit organizations that NEVER thank their customers. One department here in Canada has the paradoxical title “Service Canada” http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/home.shtml
Guess what? Without our tax dollars, questions, forms filled out, requests and objections you don’t have a job. Why don’t you try thanking customers instead of ignoring them, abusing them and general indifference.
When was the last time you thanked your customers? How do you do it? Who thanks them? What levels of the organization give thanks?
That’s one amazing aspect of the current economy, I’ve never had so many “Presidents” of this and that company personally calling me to thank me for my business. To the President, Manager, receptionist and driver: You all are welcome.
If you need help saying thanks to your customers, ask us how.