Most customers appreciate a personal touch in their business dealings. Provide it, and they will love doing business with you.
The personal touch may mean personalizing a product. The Lillian Vernon Corporation built a successful catalog business based on prompt, free personalization of items. Their first products were leather belts and purses stamped with customers’ names or initials. Now, the catalog includes an extensive selection of personalized items such as leather goods, towels, pencils, jewelry and key rings.
In these days of increasing automation and online dealings, customers appreciate human contact more than ever. The personal touch you offer may be as simple as answering your own phone. Although I have an automated voice mail system to take calls when I am unavailable, if I am in my office, I answer my own phone. Callers are often shocked when they reach me directly.
Several years ago, my father had an issue with his Internet service provider. He called tech support, and they resolved the problem. The next day, the president of the company called him to see if everything was working properly and if he was satisfied with the service. Dad is savvy enough to know that this was a very small company, and the president was probably the same tech who helped him earlier. Nonetheless, he was impressed that the company cared enough about keeping his business that they called to follow up.
Following up a purchase, service issue or complaint with a phone call or note makes customers feel valued. It takes very little of your time, and you may get valuable feedback in the process.
There is another old-fashioned but effective way to add a personal touch: Sign your work. I encourage customers to buy books directly from me by saying that the books are personally signed by the author. Another author said that, although she didn’t mean to offend me, she didn’t know why anyone would want my signature. After all, I’m not famous.
Well, I didn’t take offense at her observation. I was actually a little surprised by the phenomenon, too. The fact is that people like the personal touch that comes with a signed item. Maybe they are hoping that I will become famous (or infamous!) one day, and they will be able to sell the book on eBay for a huge profit.
However, I think it is even simpler. Customers like to know that the author took a moment to sign a copy of the book for them. It gives them a connection to a famous (or almost-famous) author.
Craftsmen and artists often sign their work. Do you produce a product you could sign? Even if your business is installing air conditioners, would saying that “all of our installers sign their work,” be a powerful message to customers about the pride your installers put in to everything they do?
Putting your name to something means that you have pride in it. Backing that up with a signature adds a personal touch to which customers will respond.
