Wizard of Ads Clay Campbell

Ten Ways to Charm a Customer- Part Two

I came across an article called “10 Ways to Charm a Woman” by David Wygant. I read it with great interest. Women want to be charmed. How true. Customers like to be charmed too. When a business charms their customers, they will keep them, and stay in business for long haul and probably be very profitable.

10 Ways Charm a Customer Part One is right under this one.

The remaining 5 ways to charm your customers.

6. Be flexible

7. Be positive

8. Be balanced

9. Have ambition

10.Be attentive

6. Be flexible Have you ever been a customer in a store and been frustrated by an employee who blandly states, “Sorry sir, this is our policy”. Never mind that it might not be fair. Always err on the side of fairness by being flexible for the customer. One night I was in the parking lot of my business and we were closed that night. A car pulled in with four people. They had driven two hours and very disappointed that we were closed. I apologized profusely as I reached in my pocket and handed them 8 free passes for any show they wanted at any time. I said, “Come back and see the show on me.” They thanked me, and thanked me and thanked me again. I didn’t have to do that. That cost me over $100 but I turned disappointment into thankfulness. I made 4 people happy because I was flexible.

7. Be positive. I love to be around positive people. Don’ you? They are happier than your average run of the mill folks. They look on the brighter side of things. They are usually smiling and happy and ambitious. Try to always think of something positive to say to customers. They will remember you and think well of you for it.

8. Be balanced. Small business owners wear many hats, so they can easily get burned out from working too long without rest. You need time away to the mountains, the beach, fishing, golf or something that can divert your attention from then business so you can come back refreshed. A tired over worked person is not pleasant to deal with in the business place if there is a problem. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was true when old Ben Franklin said it, and it’s still true today.

9. Have ambition. A customer loves dealing with someone in a business place that has ambition. They have determination, get-up-and-go, motivation, desire, and spirit. The opposite is apathy. A customer detests apathy on the part of the owner or employee.

10. Be attentive. Take the Dale Carnegie course in human relations or read the books. Dale says in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People , “The deepest craving in a person is the craving to be appreciated.” To me that means listening and giving them your full attention. Look the customer in the eye and listen intently. That makes them feel important. Customers that feel you treated them important will return and bring their friends.

If you take the time and have the courage to implement these 10 “ Charming” steps your customers will be waiting line to get to do business with you.

10 ways to charm a customer

Can You Charm a Customer?

First five ways to charm a customer

Recently I came across an article called “10 Ways to Charm a Woman” by David Wygant. I read it with great interest. Women want to be charmed. How true. Customers like to be charmed too. When a business charms their customers, they will keep them, and stay in business for long haul and probably be very profitable.

Five of David’s points:

1. Be aware

2. Demonstrate humor

3. Have passion

4. Be considerate

5. Be honest

David’s ideas are easily adaptable to business. Here are my thoughts on “10 Ways to Charm A Customer.”

Part one:

First 5 Ways to Charm a Customer

1. Be aware. Your customer is a person with feelings, emotions, and problems they want solved. The reason they came in, called or visited your website was probably to solve some problem they have. They are not an interruption or inconvenience. Being aware and sensitive of the customers needs is the reason you are in business.

2. Demonstrate humor. Lighten up a little with your customers. Show that you have a good sense of humor. Learn a few of good funny clean jokes. Make fun of yourself. Show you are human. I have always felt it was easier to sell some one something if they were laughing and smiling back at me. Did you hear the one about the duck that went into a restaurant and had lunch? The waiter brought out the check and the duck said, “I don’t have any money… can you just put that on my bill ?

3. Have passion . I truly believe, if all else is equal, that people are attracted to the business, and the business owner who has a passion for what they do. If you don’t love what you do, quit. Go find something that you like so much that you can’t wait to get to it each day. Something that energizes you. Something you enjoy so much that you would do it even if you didn’t get paid. Then you will have true passion. Customers will be uncommonly attracted to you if you have passion like that.

4. Be considerate. Especially of the customers time and feelings. People are busy and many times need to be somewhere else in just a few minutes. “ Considerate ” sometimes means a customer just wants to know they are being listened to. So listen . When they leave they will tell others how considerate you are. Be understanding that many times they are worried, or stressed out, frazzled or tense, anxious, and in a hurry. Many times they want reassurance that you understand their feelings and that you won’t waste their time.

5. Be honest . I looked on Ebay for a laptop and also called several other places. Tiger Direct was the only call that was answered by real live person. The man said some magic words: “To be honest with you sir, the refurbished laptop your looking at will do everything you need. It’s all completely new inside, and you said you wanted the extended warranty. So it’s 100% guaranteed for 39 months. If anything goes wrong with it, we’ll give you a new one at no cost whatsoever, and it’s about $800 less that the brand new one.” I bought it because I thought he was being honest with me.

Continued on next post

Things I learned from my visit to Sewell Cadillac in Dallas this week.

Carl Sewell Sr. began the Sewell Cadillac story in 1911, and Carl Jr. runs it today. Carl Jr.'s son (also Carl Jr.), who is in his mid twenties, works there and will someday take over the leadership of one of the most well-known and respected auto dealerships in the world.
I have heard of Sewell Cadillac for several years and wanted to see for myself how it happened that a business became so famous for its customer service.
Ryan Nemic started there at age sixteen as a car washer and worked his way up through the ranks to become Service Manager. Ryan was most kind, giving me a 45-minute tour of the Service and Parts department Saturday morning and answering my long list of questions. From the service department, I went to the sales department and managed to get to visit and ask many questions of sales manager there. I’ll write about that visit in another post.

From the interviews and two tours, here are a few things I observed:

· Every customer drives into the service department on a sparkling clean tile floor. They are greeted and escorted to a beautiful waiting area, given a loaner car, or are driven to wherever they need to go. Should they choose to stay and wait for their car to be repaired, they have the option of working in an office away from their office. Sewell has two office spaces with a phone, phone books, and both wired and wireless Internet access. Ryan said sometimes people come there and stay for two or three hours after their car is fixed, making calls or working online in a nice, quiet, private office.

· Every vehicle is washed, vacuumed, and immaculately cleaned, inside and out. I watched them working on a car and that kind of service at a car wash would cost $30-$40. Ryan told me that people usually comment on how nice their car looks when they pick it up.

· The service teams work in small groups of three to eight technicians and a group leader. There are fourteen groups with 72 technicians in all. I asked why each group leader had just a small group. He explained they could develop a close-knit relationship with their technicians. They all worked together, solved problems together, and got to know each other very well. He said it made for a better team when the group was small. All of the service managers & the valet who brings your car out to you are all wearing a suit and tie.
· The parts department stocks over one million parts. When a technician needs a part, it’s entered on a computer. The part is called up and delivered to right to parts counter on a machine like a conveyor belt with small buckets. Then the part is delivered to the technician, saving a lot of the technician’s time. Very efficient.
· The service area workplace is immaculate. Again, the area has a clean tile floor and is heated and cooled, just like your living room.

If you want to excel in customer service, it would be worth the time and money for you to fly to Dallas and visit Sewell Cadillac for yourself. Very few small business owners would go the extra mile in customer service the way that Sewell has, but all businesses can learn something from Sewell Cadillac's service department. Ryan said Sewell’s goal is to make theirs the best customer service in the USA. From what I saw during my visit, I would say he accomplished that goal.

Ryan Nemic said, "Everyone has heard of Sewell's service. There are seven Cadillac dealers within a 30-minute drive. You can buy a Cadillac anywhere, but if you want service, you come here. My boss says, ‘We’re not in the car business, we’re in the service business.’”

What percentage of people in your town has heard of your service?

Carl Sewell’s book: Customers For Life
As you might expect they have a fantastic website: http://www.sewell.com

Make a Good Impression

Are your customers impressed when they walk in?

This past week I have walked into different businesses and observed the following:

· The sign out front had fallen over

· Ugly stains on the carpet

· Dirty windows

· Employee with badly wrinkled clothes

· Trash and cigarette butts laying by the entrance

· Employees out by front door smoking

· No wall or separation between smoking and non smoking area

The first impression lasts much longer than the time it takes to form it. I met person at a business meeting and when we were introduced the person had noticeably bad breath. I have seen that person again on several occasions and the first thing that pops in my mind is the bad breath. It seems to me that making sure the first impression of your business is a good one should be top priority. If you are spending any money at all advertising and your ads bring you in a new customer and the first impression is not good, then your business is like a car stuck in the mud; you keep spinning the tires but the car “ain’t movin.” Make a good first impression. Spend the money, fix or change whatever you need to in order to make a good first impression.

You’ll only get the best bang for your ad dollars if the new customers, your advertising brings you, are impressed when they walk in.

Great Customer Service

These posts are for small business owners who want to make better use of their ad dollars. I’ll be sharing a few ideas and suggestions that have worked miracles for my clients and friends. I hope their stories are helpful and that you would forward this article on to a friend.

Thanks

Great Customer Service
While conducting an Uncovery (the mission a Wizard goes on to discover the advertiser’s untold story) I discovered a nugget of truth. Everyone at the business mentioned the fact that they had great customer service. Employees and management thought customers kept coming back because of it. But they never mentioned their service in any ads. The company had been very successful, yet had a smaller ad budget than their competitors. Any business can provide great customer service but most don’t. Many brag about their customer service when in actuality it’s non-existent. But I came to the conclusion that my client concentrates on - works diligently on - giving fabulous customer service well beyond what the customer expects. They provide what Cajun’s call Lagniappe, “something extra.” The fact that service isn’t advertised gives it amazing impact.

If you advertise that you have fabulous customer service, consumers come into your place of business with extremely high expectations. If you don’t meet their unrealistic expectations, they may leave unhappy, disappointed, disgruntled and sometimes really mad. If you don’t advertise service and the customer gets it unexpectedly then they are very happy campers and may even tell others about your business.

Do a newsletter for your list of customers and prospects.

Below is a letter I sent to a client of mine. Caring People Services. They gave me permission to use this email in my blog today.

In italics are some additional comments I added for this post.

Hi Joni…and Carolyn I hope you're feelin better.
Ladies would you please read this newsletter over very, very carefully?

I believe something similar would be exreamely benificial to you. It is another tool to implement, to help you find more customers. It would be time well spent. It would also be great content for you a future book. Notice her book advertised in the newsletter.
You could find other similar stories and newsletters and we maybe could use some of their content in your newsletters. Look over the ideas in this one. View this idea as another lake you have never fished in before; you have put a few poles in the water, and waiting for a bite.

Radio is one lake (a branding lake), newspaper is a support lake, website is another, a brochure is another, business card another. Speaking at places like small church groups, the Rotary or Lions club breakfast is another, your location another,(the cheapest advertising you can have is expensive rent) word of mouth another, your new billboard sign out front another. I call this called is a gravity well. ( From page 62 of the book Making Ads Work by my Partner Craig Arthur) It's the various ways you are reaching and touching the consumer. You must then wait until their time of need arises and then they will call or contact Caring People Services.

The masses that hear your ads on the radio every day; some are customers some are prospects and some are suspects. You’ll never get the suspects. The customers already know about you. The prospects will hear your ads every day and will still NEVER respond until their time of need arises; ie their mom has Alsheimers and has become too much to handle alone and they think, "My Lord I need to find someone to help me with all this." THEN is when you become the person they were hoping to find. We must think long term. How long is our time horizion? A long time. Maybe 4-5 years. Win their hearts and their money will follow only after they like you and trust you. I don’t care what your product or service is, consumers like to buy from people they like and trust.I'm proud too be on your team. Together we'll make great strides. We are doing the crock pot job of marketing not the microwave oven. This is what a good marketing consultant does.I'll see you at our meeting next Tuesday morning.
Clay