What Makes Customers Happy to Buy from You?

Yesterday our insurance salesman stopped by to ask a few questions about additional insurance coverage on one of our policies. I took the opportunity to show him two broken headlights that I had replaced a week earlier because some rocks blew small holes in the glass and rainwater collected inside. He asked for a copy of the invoice and promised to take care of the problem. The next day the salesman stopped by and presented me with a check covering the damage 100 percent. I was delighted by the fast, personal service and talked to at least five people about this happy experience.

Last Friday I received a call from the salesperson who represents the company that prints our magazine. He told me that due to a technical problem, our April issue would not be mailed on Friday as scheduled, but he found a way to get a Friday night shift to complete the bindery process and then truck our magazine to the regional post office for delivery on Saturday morning, thus avoiding any delay. I was a happy customer because I knew that our readers appreciate on-time delivery.

The recent recession has changed corporate attitudes about serving customers. The old objective to create a “satisfied customer” is no longer enough. The successful and globally competitive company encourages and expects their sales team to create “happy customers.”

What makes customers “happy”? Below are ten suggestions gleaned from sales managers at progressive companies who are leading this new trend:

1. Replace the old saying, “Nothing happens until somebody sells something,” with “Nobody deserves to get paid unless and until we’ve created happy customers.”

2. Replace the old response, “I’ll see what we can do about this problem,” with “What would you like us to do that will make you happy?”

3. Replace the old question, “How can I close this sale?” with “How can I make myself more valuable to this prospect?”.

4. Cut your response time to any customer request in half and you’ll quadruple your chances for more business.

5. Double the time you spend listening and you’ll quadruple your opportunities for creating a happy customer.

6. Double the extra mile you walk for your customers and you’ll quadruple your referral business.

7. Stop hoping for a tangible, external reward each time you give your customer extra service. Happy customers are the result of caring and selfless service.

8. Change the old focus from “What’s in it for me?” to the new philosophy of “I am on your team!”

9. Change your view of the world from “It’s a jungle out there!” to “The world is filled with fresh opportunities for making my customers happy!”

10. Don’t forget a happy customer is nothing but an extension of your own personal philosophy of how you want to be treated.

Need more facts on how well this philosophy can work? Fran Tarkenton the CEO of Knowledgeware explains in this issue’s cover story how he rewards employees who create “happy customers” with a five-day trip to Hawaii (that includes a ticket for their spouse or “significant other”!). The fact that the stock market value of Tarkenton’s company has risen to over $500 million in the past six years indicates that creating happy customers leads to big payoffs.