Hug Your Way to Success

“When you have strong personal relationships, customers will do more of their buying from you because they like and trust you,” Mitchell says. “They’ll refer other customers. They’ll communicate with you better, and tell you what they like and what they don’t like, in turn making your business more efficient and effective.” He adds (and I agree) that too many businesses ignore their customers and don’t spend nearly enough time or money profiling them to get to know their needs and wants.

Beyond the Internet

Remember back in the days of the dot-com boom, when analysts were predicting that the retail sector would become nearly extinct because everyone would start buying everything on the Internet? Despite the huge growth of Web-based business transactions, I haven’t noticed any significant change in the number of strip malls, outlet stores, or other retail venues. Why not?

People like to buy things from people, and Mitchell’s success is evidence of this. He’s not against technology, but Mitchell says it shouldn’t replace face time with the customer. Technology, he believes, should be used as a tool to enhance customer service, not replace it. For example, his business has built a database of more than 115,000 customers, which includes personal information about them, such as their nicknames, anniversary dates, kids’ birthdays, and whether they like M&Ms.

We are losing our customer-service edge, and that may be the last leg we're standing on in this global economy.

That’s great! I’d love it if I could walk into a store and be greeted like this: “Good afternoon, Mr. Sheffert. How is Clyde doing? Is he still chasing the squirrels in your backyard?” I’d do all of my shopping there!

When I was a kid, one of my summer jobs was working in a full-service gas station. Customers would pull up and I would pump gas, wash windows, and check the oil, all while visiting with them about their family, the high-school football game last Friday, and so on. Yes, it’s true, kids! It didn’t only happen on TV Land’s Mayberry, R.F.D.!

Another summer job I had was working in a grocery store, where I actually bagged groceries and carried them out to customers’ cars, or if they lived within two blocks of the store, I’d deliver to their homes. Back then, when we telephoned a business, the call was answered by a human being. It’s hard to believe, but it really happened!