The Best Way Ever, Bar None, Tip-Of-The-Top Tip to Retain Customers

This is not one of those bullet-point lists that has 300 ways to do something. It is not even the top three. Or in baseball terms, this is the winner of the World Series in four straight.

How can I be so sure of myself in making this outlandish statement? Is it because I just read a book about it? No. Did someone else whisper this in my ear? No. It is simple… I was in business and know this works.

Get ready. Here it comes:

The single best way to retain customers is to have great employees who interact with your customers. You can’t possible do everything yourself. You have to have good people around you. Let your employees be real people to your customers. Have every customer service person visit their key customers, in person. Have your credit manager or bookkeeper know the key players personally. Does your key foreman know the owners of the jobs you are working on? You can and should make it so.

This way, your customer knows there is a path to problem resolution. He will care about your people, more than caring about your company. This makes you a winner.

Train your employees to be customer centered. Encourage them to do everything they can for a customer, every chance they can. This is why Southwest Airlines is the best, or Nordstrom’s, or any glass shop that is doing well.

It is all about your employees interacting with your customers. If your employees smile as the walk through the door of your company, your customers will pick up on that. If they are more likely to be Oscar The Grouch, your customers will know that, too.

Now could there be a bulleted list of a hundred ways to keep your employees happy? Yes. But not for today.

Think about it. If you can, send me an email with the tips you have for keeping your employees happy at: paulbaseball@msn.com.  I’ll publish them in a couple of weeks, giving all writers full credit for their ideas.