Mrs. Winston’s Green Grocery

Mrs. Winston’s Green Grocery

“Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend
you, they insist that their friends do business with you.”
Chip Bell

When I saw this sign in Mrs. Winston’s Green Grocery, which, by the way has the best salad bar in Los Angeles, I thought it was hilarious. I knew it was a joke because, besides offering great food, Mrs. Winston’s provides great customer service.

But it got me to thinking. Anyone can treat their customers well when things are going well, but how do we treat them when things have gone wrong?

Is the photo above our customers’ perception of our customer service? I don’t think so, but, just in case, I came up with this little reminder.

Listen: when a customer calls to complain, they want to be heard, generally without interruption.

Apologize: our customers want to know we care about them and are invested in finding a solution to the problem, now.

Fix it: our customers want to know that we are going to fix it as soon as possible and that we will keep them apprised on how it’s going along the way.

When the chips are down, we have a great opportunity to show our customers who we really are, how we feel about them and that they can count on us.

And if we are watching for it, that’s an opportunity we can use to create a legion of loyal, happy customers.