I loved the way Ed Koch, who was mayor of New York, used to address, everyone he met. He’d always ask, “How am I doing?” He would ask this when he was introduced to someone. He would ask cab drivers and anyone he passed on the street. It was his way of greeting you.
I loved it for two reasons. The first is that it showed he really cared how he was doing as mayor. The second is that he was in constant in touch with his customers, the citizens of NYC. Being in constant touch enabled him to keep tabs on what was important to his customers on a daily basis.
I love how Trimco uses this same idea with a “Tell Us How We’re Doing” button on their website. Most companies just have a Contact Us area on their website. You’d have to be pretty unhappy to use the Contact Us area to make a complaint.
Most companies only want to hear compliments. The few negative comments that get through to them are not taken seriously. It’s just an impossible to please customer, who complains about everything.
Trimco is asking for it! I’d love to know the percentage of negative to positive comments. It really doesn’t matter as they are both good for Trimco. If it’s a positive comment, they know what they are doing right that the customer values. If it is negative, they know where they need to improve.
And by asking for it, they reduce the customer’s pain. An unhappy customer who finds a company with an empathetic “Tell us How We Can Do Better” attitude, is already feeling better.
As sales for most companies continue to improve, customer service is declining. Trimco is being very smart by investing in customer loyalty that will pay off in market share gains.
While I’m talking about Trimco, I also have to give a shout out to Anthony Mastroianni the Director of Sales, U.S. & Eastern Canada for Trimco for sharing this.
In the famous “sell me this pen” question – one of the best response questions I have ever read is “when’s the last time you used a pen?” “Was it important?” So I will ask you – when’s the last time someone used your front doors to one of your buildings? Was it for something important when they grabbed the door handle and walked into your building? I believe your brand is unique and worthy of greeting every customer who walks into your building. I love hearing what is unique and valuable about your brand and helping you bring that to your customers every day.
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