Increasing the top line revenue and bottom line for a business is always at the forefront of the minds of business owners. How do we get more customers? How do we grow in sales is what the inquiring minds want to know? If you understand this simple truth, about how to attract more customers and keep them, the rest will take care of itself so to speak.
Okay, are you ready for it. The simple secret for how to increase sales. The simple secret is customer service.
When I say this do not dismiss this or miss the importance of this simple truth. So many companies are looking to get more, but that mindset and culture is costing you big time.
You need to have a company culture that oozes customer service. I mean, you need to give more to your customers than you take. Spoil your customers. How do you know if you are right track?
Well, here are some indicators of having a great customer focused company?
- Courteous polite, caring, sensitive to customers needs.
- Experts in their area of business e.g. restaurants, plumbing, etc.
- Keep your promise. Did you deliver on the promise you advertised?
- Make sure every transaction is about the customer NOT you?
Lets look at a company that employs all of these elements in how they conduct busines.
Customer service done the Nordstroms Way
The Nordstrom company customer service reputation stems from from two main things:
1. First this corporation pays close attention to their customer and does not miss small details.
2. To have a well trained workforce you must do the following: equip them with all the necessary tools to make the correct decisions. The employees are trained with companies processes, procedures, and products to improve overall customer experience.
Nordstroms corporation invest money into their employees training and as a result the employees are empowered to solve problems realtime without having to escalate.
The company has a book that outlines their unique formula for conducting business with their customer and the book is called “The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence”
Employees are required to read this manual upon getting hired and are trained to these standards.
Millions upon millions of dollars were invested in creating such a book, and I am positive that millions of dollars are spent in training its employees to these standards.
But, I do not think that Nordstroms would be where it is today without their willingness to do whatever it takes to ensure their customers receive the best shopping experience.
As a result of their efforts of putting the customer first, this company can charge whatever it wants for its products and the stores are always packed with customers. I was absolutely amazed by the price tag of the items in this store until I learned the why.
Why are the items so expensive? They are priced as such because the items they sell are worth it. The quality of products they offer are of superior quality to say the least. This is the attention to details that Nordstrom does, it provides its customers with the product and quality you can only know if you are paying attention. If you have not gone, I encourage you to take a stroll into one of their many stores.
Not only does this company stand by their products, more importantly this company stands by their customer.
Here is an example of that.
I heard a story once about a customer who went into Nordstrom’s with a tire to return, Yes, you heard that correctly, he brought a tire into a Nordstrom to make a return.
This is a huge clothing store, clearly they do not sell tires.
But, guess what? The Nordstrom store took care of this customer by looking up how much the tire cost and gave the customer money for it.
Now, I know this is not an affordable business model for most business owners. But, wow!
This story exemplifies Nordstrom customer service. This story has made me a customer. This story has made many customers of Nordstrom’s. This story has made Nordstrom’s a lot of money. Why? They took care of their customer. They were customer focused not on top line or bottom line.
Nordstrom’s was focused on the customer and that’s the bottom line.