Word Of the Week #538: Feed Egos
November 27, 2014 by Susan Clarke
Feed Egos: how you make your customers, guests, members, or clients feel important, valued and respected.
When was the last time a salesperson made you feel important? If I asked your staff or co-workers would they say you make them feel valued and respected? How often do you encounter a sales/customer service person who is rude, indifferent or incompetent?
This is #7 of my 7 Simple Steps of Service. In my book, The FUN-damental Secrets of Service, I wrote this about feeding egos, “People like to feel that they are important in the world; that they have value and that other people respect them. And I am going to share with you four ways to do just that.
- People like to feel good about spending their money. And my FUN-damental Service Secret #5 is “Make your customers feel
good about spending their money.” Spending money is a treat. It is a sign to yourself that you are a successful person, that you have achieved a certain level of status, that you have a certain amount of control over your life. Don’t make it a hassle for them to buy from you. - People don’t want to have their intelligence insulted. That means when you talk to them you use words and terms they understand. A resourceful sales/customer service person asks us leading questions, lets us do a lot of the talking, and points out the advantages of a product in simple terms.
- People want to be skillfully guided in their purchases. Buying is fun, but it’s also stressful, especially when we are making important decisions. We’re concerned about buying an inferior brand, or about paying too much, or about getting poor follow-up service. We don’t want to appear ignorant or make a mistake. We look to professionals to supply is with the information and choices, and then help us make decisions.
- People don’t like to lose arguments. A customer is neither an enemy nor an interruption. They are the reason for your employment. YOU WILL NEVER WIN IF YOU ARGUE WITH A CUSTOMER. You may score a momentary victory, but then you risk losing them as a customer forever and bad word-of-mouth.
One of my favorite quotes is “WHEN YOU LEARN TO FEED PEOPLE’S EGOS, THEY WILL SEEK YOU OUT AND FORCE MONEY INTO YOUR HANDS.” And boy was that true when I was a server!
This week focus on feeding egos. Do you listen to your customers, guests, members, or clients and help guide them with their purchases? Do you take the hassle out their buying experience by not being rude, indifferent, or incompetent? When was the last time a sales/customer service person treated you with respect and valued your business? How did that make you feel?
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