Be fair! Treat others the way you would like to be treated in similar circumstances.
I didn’t invent this one. It was written in the Bible thousands of years ago and it remains just as true today.
I know some business people that go to such lengths to protect themselves and their business interests, that they unnecessarily hurt their customers in the process. Perhaps they’ve been hurt in business themselves, and they’ve become paranoid. They practically view their customers and business associates as the enemy.
It can be seen in their return policy. “No refunds, No returns, no matter what.” It keeps the number of returns down, but it kills the chance to build a relationship.
Or, they’ll run a “Special of the week” and if a customer calls to order it a day late, they refuse to extend the offer.
You don’t have to give the store away, just extend yourself a little and be fair.
Early in my career, I was a scrappy New Yorker. My training ground was the football field and the hockey rink. If I didn’t like the way something was going, I got loud and nasty. It came with the territory. In business, I damaged a lot of important business relationships.
Those rules don’t work in business.
These days, I have far fewer disputes. But, I’ve learned that when the occasional dispute arises, it can be used as an opportunity to build the relationship. As Steven Covey teaches – seek first to understand, then to be understood. Give others the space to have their own opinion and perspective, even if it differs from yours.
There is one certainty in business – things will go wrong. It’s an inherent part of the process. The key is to take responsibility for the mistakes that get made and the problems that occur and fix them. Responsibility doesn’t mean feeling bad about it or blaming your partners or employees. It means recognizing that because you have a stake in the situation, you have an obligation to solve the problem. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. That’s a loser’s line of questioning.
Winners seek to identify the cause of the problem as well as several possible solutions. How could the problem have been avoided? What did you do to contribute to it? Then, agree on a new course of conduct and move on. Be ready to make further adjustments. It’s not the problems that cause businesses to succeed or fail. It's your response to those problems.
Take responsibility and course correct. That’s a winner’s approach.
If there is one thing that can catapult your business into success it’s this: always deliver more than you promise. Some business people feel that they have to promise the moon in order to get the customer in the first place and that there’s nothing left to give customers to ensure their satisfaction. It’s just not true. There is always more to give.
Here are a few examples:
a. Bonus program (free report or audio) that better explains what they purchased or teaches the customer to get more benefit out of it. For example, if you sell a piece of furniture, you could add a special report on how to clean it or stain proof it.
b. A free telephone coaching session.
c. A discount on their next purchase from you.
d. A discount for using a preferred vendor. For example, when I practiced law, I gave our real estate clients a discount voucher for a local moving company or restaurant.
e. A bonus CD about another program of interest that you offer.
f. A free yearly update and analysis.
The list is endless. The point is you want to give the customer more than they anticipated. The extra bonus will let them know that you value their business and the information will keep them connected to your business.