Leadership in business – Leaders take care of their clients

By Jerry Bellune 

Leaders take care of their clients

We call all of our customers “clients.”
The word “client” infers a deeper relationship.
We don’t want just customers, even satisfied ones.
We want loyal clients who love doing business with us.
We want clients who do not take their business elsewhere.

I’ll bet you have your share of customer service stories.
And I’ll bet you’ve heard several hundred of them.
Clients with a poor experience may tell a dozen friends.
If they have a good experience, they may not tell anyone.
If they have a great experience, they may tell everyone.

Two recent experiences renewed my faith in people.
I had spoken to a group about dealing with the media.
On the drive back, I found a back tire almost flat.
At a local service center, I asked Chuck Taylor to fix it.
“Give me your keys,” Chuck said.
I was prepared for an hour wait.
Ten minutes and $10 later, I was on my way.
Wow! I thought. That’s customer service.
Prompt. Efficient. Inexpensive.
I wrote my weekly column about the experience.
Thousands of people read that column.
What do you think this did for Chuck’s business?

Now let me top that one. This is even better.
I had another flat tire about a month ago.
Fortunately it was at our office.
I called Frank Williamson at the closest tire service.
Frank said he was on the way to fix another flat.
If I could wait, he would swing by our office and repair it.
I went out to check on the tire 30 minutes later.
Frank had repaired it and left.
I called Frank to ask what I owed him.
“Nothing,” he said.
“Come on, Frank,” I said. “I expect to pay you.”
“Just think about me when you next need to buy tires.”
Who do you think gets all my tire business now.
We have three vehicles, a good small account for him.

Now ask yourself these questions:
If someone called with an emergency, what would you do?
If they talked with one of your people, what would they do?
How can you teach them to act like Chuck and Frank?
When are you going to start teaching them?
Why not copy this article and share it with them?

Recommended reading
Would you like more leadership strategies like this?
Contact me for my latest leadership book.
It’s called “What It Costs to Be the Boss.”
You’ll discover 19 secrets of great leaders.
Just email me at [email protected]

Next: Leaders take care of their people.

Want to share this with a friend? Be my guest.
We only ask that you tell them where it came from.
Invite them to send me their email address.
They can reach me at [email protected]
I’ll email this strategy letter to them each week.
©2015 The Bellune Company, Inc.
Neither MidlandsBiz.com nor The Bellune Company, Inc. makes any warranty as to the results that may be achieved from using this information. ©2015 The Bellune Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Requests for permission to reprint or circulate may be obtained by emailing [email protected]