The Ritz-Carlton is known for luxurious hotels, great amenities… but most of all, it’s known for customer service. Great, astounding, personal, friendly, immediate customer service. Customer service that actually keeps the customer in mind. If you want to stand out among your competitors, take these Ritz Carlton customer service lessons to heart.

1. Acknowledge and apologize for your mistakes.
Then do something nice to make up for them. Stacey Hylen, a business coach, recounts an experience at a Ritz-Carlton hotel: they forgot her wake-up call, and when she let the front desk know about it, they immediately apologized and offered to send breakfast to her room. Hylen declined, as she had other breakfast plans, but when she got back to the room she found a basket of gourmet food and a handwritten note of apology waiting for her.

When a customer is wronged, even in the slightest way, don’t make excuses or get defensive. Instead, be bold and sincere enough to admit your mistake (even if it was inadvertent) and then apologize. Then take it up to the Ritz level by doing something nice to make up for the mistake. Send a card, a gift certificate, buy them dinner, give a freebie, make it better. Be memorable for your great response, not for your mistake.

2. Be proactive.
Don MacAskill, founder of SmugMug, talks about an anniversary visit he and his wife took to a Ritz-Carlton. The outstanding part of his story was that several days before they even left, he got a call from a member of the Ritz staff, asking if there were any special preparations they could make to help make their anniversary stay even more special.

What can you do to stay top-of-mind with your customers? Reach out with amazing proactive customer service to make every experience they have with you special, unforgettable, unbelievably good. Don’t wait for an unhappy customer and then pull out the stops. Make an advance phone call, send out birthday cards, remember names, greet people at the door, be proactive.

3. Make it a top priority.
In order for great customer service to happen on a regular basis, you have to make it one of your businesses’ top priorities. And you have to pass that attitude on down to your employees. That means that you need to give them authority to extend amazing customer service. If you’re getting upset with a waiter who comps a dessert to please an unhappy customer, you’re sending the wrong message. Set up any system you want, but be sure that message your employees get – every single day, every single shift – is that customer service matters.

And it does. If you don’t pay attention to customer service, you may get by, but most likely you won’t stand out. The personal experience and the friendly connection created by superb customer service will make you memorable – in the best of ways – with every person who walks through your door.

Image by Paul Lowry.

Andy and I were talking about customer service and customer retention yesterday, especially as it relates to local business types, and he said something that grabbed me.

“Businesses must quit treating customers like terrorists.”

Now that’s a strong statement, but let’s unpack it for your locally-owned small business.

Terrorists are folks with whom we should never negotiate. We have a policy of “no negotiation,” and we should stick with it – because the potential for recourse is too scary. Negotiating with terrorists could lead to chaos, anarchy or being overtaken by the manipulations of the enemy. Terrorists are enemies that harass and threaten our safety and security.

Do you look at your customers as enemies who harass you, threaten you or risk your safety and security? I hope not. But if you really squint, you might realize that deep down maybe you sometimes do view them this way.

Do you treat your small business customers with generosity, patience, respect? Or do you answer their questions briskly with distraction? Do you give them your full attention at every point of interaction – or are you bothered by their interruption? When you mess up – or they are confused about how to use or engage with your products or services the best way, are you wary of helping them fix their problem? Are you afraid that you will open a can of worms if you do the right thing? Does your safety and security feel threatened by the potential of fixing customer problems?

There are a million other scenarios that I could suggest along this realm, but let me stop with those, and instead point you to a better way.

Customers are NOT terrorists.

Let me challenge you to change your attitude and perspective towards your customers today. No matter how positively you feel towards your customers, there is always room to improve and kick it up another notch, so to speak. Here are some ways you can change your attitude toward your customers – and in turn, drastically improve your customer loyalty, customer retention – and yes, grow your business simply and aggressively.

1. View your customers and their problems as your primary marketing opportunity each and every day.
2. Remember that remarkable customer service experiences lead to many remarks by the customer to their many friends (often 100s of friends on social networks).
3. Consider the lifetime value of the customer in relation to fixing the small problem or time spent giving personal service, explanation or help today.
4. Remember that word of mouth marketing is the best marketing you can never buy (or if you make folks unhappy – the worst marketing you can never buy your way out of).
5. Remember that going through a trial with your customer will make them more loyal and mean more steady and secure income for you for a long time to come.

Try This Idea.

Dedicate a portion of your small business marketing budget and time to fix problems in a way that far exceeds “making it right” and that makes your customer exceedingly happy about you and your business.

What do you think? How can you grow your small business by taking advantage of problems today?

Editor’s Note: I fleshed out this idea and six others related to customer service and customer retention for the upcoming print issue of Greater Jackson Business magazine to hit newsstands in the next few days. Be sure to check it out.

Photo Credit: jm3

Andy and I are privileged in our work to conduct a lot of one-time consultations with small businesses who need a push in the right direction and an action list to help them take their small business marketing to the next level and create a more remarkable and consistent customer experience.

We also have the privilege to work very closely, literally in the trenches, to develop, implement and then teach a small number of business owners how to execute marketing strategies and tactics as well as customer experiences that will grow their businesses for the long term. In these relationships, we seek to be game changers – revolutionaries – who encourage “drastic and far-reaching changes in ways of thinking and behaving” when it comes to small business marketing and small business customer experiences. (If you’ve been hanging around here a while, you’ll recognize that quote as the dictionary definition of “revolution” and the reason behind the name of this blog.)

Looking for a customer experience revolution for your small business? Here are TEN posts from the deep archives of this blog that I thought were worth a second (or third) look when it comes to helping you create a profitable customer experience. These posts are FULL of great ideas and tips for small business customer service and experience improvements. Your customer experience, after all, is the most critical element to the short and long-term success of your business. It is the linchpin to your success. Click on the tip to read a full blog post on the topic (and don’t forget to leave behind your comments and ideas on each topic!).

1. Make sure your front-line sales team knows how to do their job – and the importance of it.

2. Make keeping customers (customer retention) and getting new customer referrals from your happy customers a primary focus.

3. Don’t assume anything about your customers. They probably do NOT know what to do with your stuff.

4. It really does pay to understand your customer. Customer feedback is critical (a bonus post for this tip!).

5. Use great photography in your small business marketing.

6. Use lighting as a cheap and easy way to improve your customer experience and to market your business 24 hours a day.

7. Pay attention to the auditory aspect of your customer experience. It matters.

8. Make shopping with you more convenient for the time-crunched shopper – which is all of us.

9. Don’t forget that marketing doesn’t stop when the customer walks in the door – it’s really just beginning.

10.   Last but not least, here are a few more great ideas for improving your customer experience. A revolutionary customer experience is possible for your small business!

Want more? If you’ve been trying to figure out how to achieve that in your business or are looking for a small business revolution, community or non-profit organization, please get in touch with us – we’d love to hear from you.

Photo Credit: advencap

Sometimes a project comes along that just warms the soul. Not long ago, Andy and I helped the new owner of a historic soda fountain as he sought to share the nostalgia and heritage of this landmark with a new generation – using New Media and Social Media tools. Recently, when meeting with the new owner, I found myself saying something that I say a lot:

“Customers are more loyal when they feel like an insider, and prospects are more likely to convert when they have ‘insider’ information.”

Similarly, several times a week, without fail, folks ask us about our lives… Usually the question goes something like this: “It seems like you are on the road ALL THE TIME… HOW do you do it?” Or, “How do you have time to do all of this?”

Really, the bottom line is that folks want insider information – they want a peak behind the scenes. And your customers want the same from you. As strange as it may seem, in this age of reality shows and YouTube (check out our channel), people really do care what happens behind the scenes at your business. I don’t think I’m that interesting, but who am I to tell you how to feel or what to be interested in? Or maybe, if you’re like me, it’s so refreshing to know that other people think or feel like I do. I believe “Insider Information” is a “needle-mover” when it comes to customer loyalty, word of mouth marketing and long-term success.

What are YOU doing to make your customers and prospects feel like “Insiders?” (Yep, go ahead, and leave a comment below. Seriously.)

In follow-up to the original version of this post, I got a note from friend and business owner Mandy Becker. I asked her permission to share her comments with you because I thought her feedback was so apt – it reinforces the message. Here’s what Mandy had to say:

I loved this!  I totally think the insider info think is critical!  The last three times I went to market, I wrote a blog about what it was like, what I was buying, etc. My customers loved it! They felt like they were part of the action! I have heard so many times, “Oh, I wish I owned a gift shop – what’s it really like? Do you love it?  What’s a typical day.” It is amazing how much people care about one another’s lives; I think we live vicariously through others in some way. Anyway – thank you!

P.S. I think I might even do a weekly blog post called “Insider Information.” Thanks for the idea – I hope it is okay if I use it?

How to make YOUR customers feel like insiders.

Where are the points in your customer experience that make a new customer feel awkward or out of the loop? Do some customers walk into your restaurant  or small business and know exactly what to do, what to expect, how to respond? Or do they struggle through certain points of the experience – or even getting in the door in the first place! Learn from your regulars – and find ways to make new customers feel equally comfortable. Sales and tips will increase accordingly.

Jill Conner Browne, The Sweet Potato Queen, on small business success, media relations & customer service.

This week on the premier of ResultsRevTV, our audience learned from Multiple #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and small business mega-success story, Sweet Potato Queen Jill Conner Browne. Jill had a lot to share, especially on the topic of dealing with the public – from her customers to the media. Best of all she offered encouragement to all of us as small business owners to “do what makes your heart sing.” Jill said the best advice she ever received was to “do what makes your heart sing – what you are passionate about – and the money will follow.”

While much of her advice is simple, few of us apply such basic principles consistently in our businesses. Based on Jill’s experience and success, consistency in the small things could mean big returns for your small businesses.

Production Note: Each week, our show will be archived in this space for you to watch and learn. However, due to a production problem, this week’s show will not be archived. However, please register for the Results Revolution, and we will send you a copy of this week’s e-mail lesson. In addition, you can interact with the conversation about this event on Facebook and see more photos from the event there, too.

Show Sponsor: Many thanks to our show sponsor, Mangia Bene Restaurant Group. Whether breakfast, lunch, supper or catering needs 24/7, please remember to Mangia Bene Catering, Broad Street Baking Company, Sal & Mookie’s New York Pizza & Ice Cream Joint, and Bravo! Italian Restaurant & Bar.

Tune in next week as we learn how to grow our small businesses by marketing smarter with small business owner and restauranteur Jeff Good, co-owner of Mangia Bene Restaurant Group in Jackson, Mississippi. Next week’s show will be live at 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 9.

A huge special thanks to Jill Conner Browne for being our guest on our premier broadcast!!