IT STARTED AT THE PUB
I’m sitting by myself in a pub, having a well earned Diet Coke after a long city walk.
In 10 minutes I’ve
- Had an interesting exchange with the manager who was intent on finding me a seat outside, despite me specifically asking for one inside. I practically had to show him my step count before he would accept I just wanted a bit of shade.
- Watched an older customer actually stop, in view of the bar, to trigger a goodbye or thank you. With that not forthcoming he stopped again at the door, but got no response. The 4 people behind the bar were too fully occupied with the bants behind the bar to see that he also even paused a little and looked back towards the bar once he was outside too. I almost went and thanked him myself
- The same 4 people haven’t spotted that the toilets were an absolute mess when I arrived, and observing that no one has moved from the bar so far, suspect they will remain so long after I’ve left.
WE DO THE SAME WITH OUR MARKETING
I don’t say this to rip into the operations of a business, under pressure from every direction.
I say this because this team look happy with their work, there is not an iota of urgency evident. And this team will go home feeling they have put their customers first. And for much of the day they maybe have.
And we do the same with our marketing. We tell our customers and prospects stuff we care about or think they should know, without any evidence that is the case. We don’t ever try to work out or notice what they actually might want
CUSTOMER FIRST
Putting your customer first is not the easy route. It takes consistency, investment and effort – but if you run a hospitality or retail business, it’s frankly part of the job. Find out how.
