6 Ways to Exceed Your Customer's Expectations Just With Good Manners Customers can buy what you sell elsewhere, so show them courtesy, respect and gratitude for choosing you.
By Grant Cardone Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Exceed your customer's expectations and deliver outstanding customer service. The greats control the service. Don't delegate it to someone else. Give excellent customer service before the sale, during the sale and after the sale.
See service as an opportunity. A big part of great customer service is minding your manners. I am often very informal for a business man but you'll still want to leverage your manners with me. Calling me sir or Mr. Cardone will help get money in your pocket. Manners are a sign of professionalism and respect that will boost your chances in the marketplace.
Here are six quick tips for better manners:
1. Don't interrupt.
Don't make the mistake of not listening to the customer you're serving. Make understanding your priority. Interrupting shows disrespect and never improves the relationship.
Related: If You Want That Customer, Mind Your Manners
2. Be present.
Don't be texting or answering calls while serving a customer. This is the one time you don't want to be multi-tasking -- it's multi-rudeness that will cost you multimillions. Respect the person standing before you with your full engagement.
Related: 7 Things Deeply Intuitive People Do Differently
3. Say thank you.
You can't thank customers enough. Use every tool possible to show thanks. Text the person 10 seconds after the exchange, then call and email and follow that up with a handwritten note. The message "I just want to tell you again how much I appreciate you as a customer" is a powerful written statement.
Related: 10 Ways to Say 'Thank You'
4. Use a surname with Mr., Sir, Ms., Miss or Mrs.
No matter how well you think you know a person, calling him or her as Mr. or Mrs. shows respect and communicates you are there to serve. No matter how many times the customer says, "call me Bob," it never hurts to continue with Mr. or Mrs.
Related: The 10 Magic Phrases of Customer Service
5. Hold the door open.
Don't be the first person to walk through a doorway. Hold the door for all people, no matter their position. Mannered people are responsible people who look for opportunities to be decent to others. Holding a door for a stranger is an act of kindness.
Related: Good Manners Are a Career and Business Necessity
6. Provide a full acknowledgment.
Before responding to a customer about anything, give them a full acknowledgment by repeating their remarks along the lines of "Thank you for telling me that and I agree with you." Just listening without acknowledgment might prompt a buyer to feel unheard and disrespected.
Use these six tips to stay on top of your manners. The bottom line is you need to keep learning how you can do more and more for your customers, how you can help your customers and how you can exceed their expectations.
Get great at customer service and get great in sales. For those interested, I'm holding a special three-day sales boot camp July 21-23. For more details on how you can attend, visit my BootCamp page.
