Clients and customers are the lifeblood of every business. As much as this may be common knowledge to most of us, sometimes we get lost in our everyday “to do” list and, therefore we could all use a reminder about the small and simple things that can create great customer experiences and strengthen customer loyalty.

Little things like smiling, being proactive, and remembering to say “please” and “thank you” are obvious customer service related actions. But let’s face it, we’re all human and it can be difficult to remember to do the simple things, like sounding cheerful when answering the phone on a cold, rainy day or always using the client’s name in the course of a conversation.

Here at Private Money Exchange and Secured Investment Corp., we’ve been talking a lot about customer service and the theme has been “Making the Client the Star”. So I started asking friends and colleagues what tricks they personally use to make their clients and customers feel important. Here are a few really interesting ones I thought I’d share:

“Smiling” with Your Voice – Almost everyone is familiar with this one. But sometimes those cold, rainy days can make a person sound a little gloomy, even when they aren’t really feeling that way at all. Jennifer, who works the front desk at a title company, says she answers each call by prefacing her greeting, “It’s a great/beautiful/wonderful day at (COMPANY NAME), this is Jennifer, how can I help you?” In fact, I’ve noticed many more businesses these days using versions of this salutation. Jennifer points out that it serves as more than just a pleasant welcome message: “It’s almost impossible for me not to sound positive every time I say it, even if I AM in a relatively bad mood!”

Using a Client’s Name – Brian, a realtor, acknowledges that using a client’s name can go a long way in personalizing the customer service experience. Instead of having to keep reminding himself to do this, he says he decided to use people’s names whenever he could. Everyone from his cell phone customer service agent to the bag boy at his local grocery store gets a “Hello (So-and-So)”, or a “Thanks (So-and-So)”, and eventually it became second nature. What’s more, by doing this, folks not only tend to really appreciate it, but they REMEMBER YOU.

Ultra Personalization – James works as an inside sales rep and pulls up his customer’s record when a call comes in. In addition to quickly reviewing account details, he scans a special set of notes of birthdays, grandchildren, spouse’s name, sports interests, etc. he has started collecting over the last year. Each time the client calls, he leverages it in the conversation. It brings client interaction and a whole new level of trust to the relationship.

Please, Thank You, and You’re Welcome – Your mother probably taught you these fundamental rules. And while most of us have no trouble treating our clients with respect, never forget that part of building trust with your client is that they are not only observing the way you treat them, but the way you treat all PEOPLE. No matter how fancy the sales lunch, most customers will take note of subtleties like whether or not you thanked the hostess or asked for your check “please”.

I’d like to get more input on this topic! How do YOU make your clients/customers feel important, and how do you go about it? Let me know. You may be doing something that could help impact my business in the future. If so, thanks in advance!