A Culture of Care: Alpha's CEO on The Recipe For a Successful Business, Part 2

In our last installment, we covered the importance of caring for your team. A team that feels appreciated and valued is the foundation of your company’s success! If you have created a team of people who care and know that you care for them, it is much easier to show your customers that you care. 

Part II: Care for your Customers
With that foundation in place, we can take a closer look at caring for your customer; after all, they’re the reason you’re in business! It is important to try and build high value partnerships and strong relationships with them. After all, transactions are easy to leave, relationships are not. Make the idea of leaving you unthinkable for a customer! Caring for customers involves:
  • Knowing their requirements and expectations! Find out what problems they’ve encountered and work on solving them. Find out what their needs and pain points are. Be the aspirin (or ibuprofen) for their headache.
  • Responding quickly and in a friendly manner. This is so refreshing in a world where customer service seems to be lost.
  • Going above and beyond, if possible. Do more than what is expected. In fact, do what is unexpected. Try to make their work and life easier. If you can create a great customer experience for your customers they will want to come back again and again.
  • Showing them appreciation, on the phone or in an email! Express your gratitude to them for allowing you to serve their business needs. Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to make a difference in their day and they will remember you for it. Whether we recognize it or not, serving a customer is a privilege. If you don’t take care of them someone else will. If there are some customers who are no longer a fit for your business it is good to part amicably. Try to help them leave on a good note. You never want to burn bridges.
Next time, we’ll talk about something often overlooked in the day-to-day of running a business: Caring for your legacy.