Creating a Customer Without Getting the Sale
February 2nd, 2010 |
I was reminded today of the importance of providing your customers with good, courteous, customer service. My wife came home from work on Friday as a nurse at the local hospital, with a story of a chance encounter with one of her patients that drove home the importance of treating every customer, whether your earn their business or not, with respect and professionalism.
Seems, my wife was in the room doing her usual best to make small talk with family and patient, when some how the conversation turned to how they had been trying to sell their home, and the difficulty they were having. As the conversation continued they explained that, the home did not have a garage and as a result potential buyers were not beating their door down. They went on to tell my wife that they had had a contractor out to look at adding a garage. This really peaked my wife’s interest, since garages are one of our main businesses. The lady went on to say that the contractor came out, measured, and spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what their best option was, but suspected they had a problem with property line set backs.
A couple of days later they said the contractor had called back, with news that he had contacted the city and as suspected, they would not be able to build the garage, because of the property line issues. Without my wife saying anything they began enthusiastically telling my wife how impressed they were with how through and professional the contractor had been. At that point my wife, curiosity peaked had to ask who the contractor was? The patient and his wife could not remember his name, but had his card at home, but went on to describe him as a big read headed guy. My wife really perked up at this point realizing they, were most likely talking about me her husband. Questioning a little it was soon confirmed and the people were excited to know the connection. They went on to tell my wife that although this, particular project was undoable, that they had held on to my business card, and just because of his honesty and professionalism would be calling for any future projects they might need.
Just goes to show your never wasting your time, even if you don’t get the sale. My guess is that I created myself a customer, without making the sale.
