Are your customers

your personal Guests?

     You wouldn’t have your personal guests sit  in a waiting area for 30, 60, 90 minutes without popping in periodically to say hello, chit-chat, explain the delay, see if they want or need anything. Why would you do that with customers, clients, patients, passengers?

     With so much business ownership and management effort  needing to be diverted to overcoming economic doldrums, and the renewed focus we all share to beef up sales and innovation these days, it’s easy to lose sight of those who wait for us.

     No, this is not an issue that’s slam-dunk resolved  with waiting and reception room stacks of dog-eared magazines, old newspapers, stale coffee, staticky music or a TV channel selector riveted to some ridiculous, insultingly manipulative station like MSNBC or CNN or ABC or CBS or NBC (instead of, for example, something more truthful and less stressful, like Nature, History, Animal, or even Weather Channel).

     Unfortunately,  these token tools used to distract those who wait are not only annoying and stressing up your visitors, they are becoming more pervasive; it’s not just car dealerships and medical offices anymore. Even restaurants have joined the news bombardment parade.

     I can’t think of a less appetizing setting  than to be served lunch while facing an all-news TV station showing live pictures of some bloody tragedy. What can someone possibly be thinking when they put that channel on? [Obviously, they’re not.]

     Oh, yeah, and it’s like a whole  get-ready-for-your-blood-pressure-and-heartbeat-readings deal while waiting for the doctor; if you didn’t have a stress ailment before you got there… 

     If the people waiting were friends or family members,  would you extend them such small insignificant “courtesies,” or make a point of personally visiting (maybe with cold bottled water and fresh warm cookies as one office does routinely) to keep them posted about how much more time you guess it might be? Would you at least send someone out to socialize with them?

     Here’s how I see it.  When people are waiting to spend their hard-earned dollars on your products or services, they deserve to be waited on hand and foot. They are also giving up personal time in their lives (that they’ll never get back) to sit and stand around because they are sold on and believe in what your business or professional practice has to offer.

     These people are your greatest asset.  They love you to start with, or they wouldn”t be there. When you treat them with tokenism and no personal attentiveness, you are essentially letting them know that you and your business are not worthy of their trust and confidence and patronage.

     What’s the answer? Be grateful.  They are giving you the most precious possession they have — their time –which is finite, limited, and irreplaceable. Appreciate what you have.

     If you have customers, clients, patients, passengers  who are willing to wait to spend their money with you, you are truly blessed, and those people need to know how much you value their sacrifice of time.

Perhaps you’ve missed or forgotten that

your best customers are those who wait.

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