Small, Positive Actions Create Loyal and Happy Customers

Not long ago, I wrote about a very positive experience with Apple. (What a free Apple computer reinforced about great customer service)

In that article, I acknowledged that few companies had the resources to take such a dramatic step as Apple did. But the idea could be applied in other ways:

You don’t have to give away computers to get stellar endorsements and create happy, loyal customers. You simply need to continually evaluate how you interact with your customers and determine if there’s any room for improvement, no matter how small.

I had a positive example of that on a smaller scale last week.

As you may know, I’m putting some of the articles from this blog, and another one I host, on eZine Articles. Why I do that is a great topic for another day.

eZine Articles is a free service for article authors. Since they use an ad-supported model, I don’t pay anything to have my articles on their site.

Recently I hit the 10 article mark. At that point eZine Articles evaluates what you’ve provided and whether they’ll let you advance to the next level and submit more articles.

It appears I passed because I soon got an e-mail informing me that I was upgraded to the Platinum membership level.

I have to admit I was happy. I like to think that the information I’m sharing has value. The upgrade by eZine Articles felt like validation of that.

But a week or so later, I had a nice surprise in the mail box.

eZine Articles had sent me a coffee mug, a packet of coffee, and a coaster, along with a note of congratulations for becoming one of their “expert authors.”

(The coaster, in particular was interesting to me as I’ve been using one in my office that I made in my 7th grade leather-shop class. Yes… leather-shop was an actual elective back then. Sometimes I think I should be embarrassed about that. But I digress…)

Did eZine Articles have to do that, especially since I’m not even paying for their service? Of course not.

Did it stand out and make me feel even better about my decision to choose them to host my articles? You bet!

It was a simple token of thanks on their part, but it stood out so much in these days of mediocre customer service and business interactions.

Hopefully I can drive this point home to you: It often only takes small, kind gestures of thanks and gratitude to stand out from the pack.

You don’t have to give away computers. You don’t even need to give out coffee mugs. It’s nice if you can, but I know some people can’t swing that.

So, it might be as simple as a cheerful voice when you talk to customers or prospects on the phone. It might be the way you interact with people in e-mail as I illustrated in my article about driving customers away. It might be going above and beyond for a customer that’s not a normal part of the plan.

Deep down, you’re probably aware of where you or your business is lacking. Will you promise yourself you’ll examine that carefully and come up with ways to improve?

Small, positive changes lead to big, positive results. You and your business are worth the effort. And your prospects and customers will love you for it.