Recently, I went shopping to buy a new pair of jeans. Upon entering the first store, I noticed three workers standing off to the side talking and laughing…none of them acknowledged me as I walked in. I proceeded to pick out a few pairs and went over to the fitting room, where I waited, and waited, and waited for someone to unlock the door for me, and while I was waiting on the staff, two workers stood close by completely oblivious to the fact that I needed their help. Finally once I asked one of them for help, I was let into the fitting room. I tried on my jeans, and they just didn’t fit right; so, I made a couple trips back and forth without any assistance from the sales staff. Finally, I was so frustrated with everything that I just left. I went into another store across the way, just to look around, not expecting to buy anything. I was immediately greeted and asked if I needed any help. The employee led me to the jean wall, and she asked me to describe what I was looking for. After selecting a couple pairs for me, she led me to a fitting room and told me to let her know if I needed anything else. When I asked for a different size, she quickly brought a pair back to swap. A couple minutes later, I was walking out of the store with two pairs of jeans and a shirt that went so well with them that I couldn’t pass it up.

Good customer service is the key to running a successful business. Nobody wants to give their hard-earned money to a store that is not willing to spend time on them. In fact, US News reported that 82% of customers will go somewhere else because of a specific customer service issue. That’s a lot of customers. If losing customers does not make you want to improve your customer service behavior then listen to this: a Gallup survey found that over a one month period, a customer “emotionally connected” to an organization spend 46% more money than a customer that was satisfied but not emotionally bonded. If we develop a bond with our customers, they are less likely to leave. If we treat them right, then they will want to do business; in fact, they might even look forward to buying from us.

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