In just about every book you’ll ever read about being a business owner, it will always stress the need to provide the best customer service humanly possible.
While I know that’s not necessarily news to you, I thought that by adding a recent example it would help drive home how it’s not just good for business, but highly profitable as well if you do so on a consistent basis.
This brings me to one day earlier this week. I was driving by one of my accounts when I saw the big boss outside getting ready to leave for the day. I don’t ever really get to see him too much because he always seems to be traveling for business or away on vacation.
So I decided to pull my work truck into the driveway and say “hi” real quick. We chatted some, nothing more than just small-talk and then he asked me to perform some extra work for his company. He needed it done because his boss was flying in from out-of-town and he wanted the facility to look it’s best.
It goes without saying that I said YES right away. I had a couple hundred bucks staring me in the face for not all that much work. All he needed was some VCT floor care performed plus an extra nights worth of cleaning the day before his big boss arrives. These type of jobs are really a piece of cake for me, and quite profitable too.
The take-away for me is that I really don’t think I would have landed that job otherwise. This guy NEVER calls me for extra work, and more than likely he just decided to have the work done because I was standing in front of him. I took ACTION and got REWARDED with more work! This type of situation has happened so many times to me over the years I can’t even count them all.
The common thread is that they always start with me going the extra mile in some way or another. Good customer service is a LOT of different elements all rolled together. It’s doing a good job, following up when an inquiry is made plus countless small acts all bundled together. And sometimes it’s just stopping in and saying “hi” when the chance presents itself.
Hi Tom,
I just wanted to share a story with you and your followers. I have a very small cleaning business I run on the side of my day job. I have a newer client that is great to work for and the work is easy.
When I first met the owner, I noticed he had a particular kind of beer on his desk (small business owners can drink beer at work if they want to!)
Saturday night on my way to the client’s office, I stopped by a liquor store nearby and bought a 6 pack of the beer he likes to drink. In addition, I left a thank you card with some business cards inside.
This must have blown him away because he texted me on Sunday night. He said “what a great Sunday night surprise!” and “thank you so much for the card” “we will definitely pass your name along to others”.
The moral of the story is that if you are going to ask for referrals, giving a little something could give some motivation to the client to spread the word about your business.
We’ll see what comes of it but either way I am only out 10 bucks.
Great story Neil! Thanks for sharing that.
Hi Neil. I was just curious how many clients you’ve taken on for part time. I work a 40 hour work week but was looking to get a few clients for extra income on the commercial side. Is it fairly easy to find the balance? etc. Any info helps.
Thanks.