There are plenty of places to rent tools and equipment anywhere in any town. When people need to rent a post-hole auger or a trencher, many go to the local family-owned equipment rental shop—and it’s because of the experience. It may not be a sparkling clean place; in fact, it looks a bit like a glorified toolshed, with all the grease and dust one might expect. They haven’t built their business and retained their customers for decades because of the decor; their regulars return because of the staff-customer relationship that makes renting at their business an enjoyable, personal experience. They appreciate that, when they walk through those dusty doors, the employees know their name and their needs. We all have our own shopping styles and preferences. No matter how you slice it, shopping and buying comes down to basic pain and pleasure stimuli and responses—and HME providers are no different than any other local business. Places and actions that we associate with pleasure we seek to experience again, and we seek to avoid experiences that cause us pain. Your customers go through this process during every contact they have with you, and it’s paramount that when they leave your establishment, they leave glowing with a desire to return. Craft a customer-centric culture: Focus on the experience from point-of-entry to point-of-sale to increase growth and retention and boost your reputation at the same time. A customers-come-first culture encompasses five touchstones, and putting these into practice will give you a leg up on your competition.
Audit Customer Experiences
An experience audit aids in identifying your customer type and allows you to model your business based on needs. When you put yourself in your customers’ shoes, you know best how to serve them—and build a profitable business in the process. Put yourself in the mind of your customers by conducting a simple audit of the pains and pleasures involved in your business. Make two columns on a piece of paper and title one “pain” and the other “pleasure,” and walk through the entire process a customer walks through while dealing with you. Track each individual perception of pain or pleasure—you may be surprised at the number of negatives. Do the pains and pleasures correspond with the type of business or service you provide and with the types of customers you have?
Learn Your Regulars
Local, family-owned businesses have become a staple because the owners and staff created relationships with their regulars. They built an environment of the neighborhood shop, where their customers knew they could go for their needs, but also friendly conversation and banter with the staff—where you’re expected, as the customer, to engage right back. Your regulars become your mouthpiece in the market: recruiting new business and customers simply by word-of-mouth praise. When you form long-standing relationships with your regulars and recognize their individual likes and dislikes, you can tailor an experience that feels distinctly personalized and negates any inherent pain that accompanies your industry—which will generate business success with increased customer growth.
Hire Staff That Mirror Your Culture
All the time and effort that you exert to make your business transactions individualized experiences is negated if your staff does not mirror these values. Your employees are the keepers of your culture—the ones who maintain your operating standards, customer-service practices and the atmosphere that distinguishes you from a similar store just down the street. You must be meticulous with your hiring practices to ensure you’re bringing the correct people onboard. Reject candidates that do not parallel your customer-centric model. Instill in your new hires the magnitude of your business philosophy.
Trust Feedback
Business owners can actually diminish their customers’ experience in an attempt to overcomplicate their service practices. A prime example of this occurred at a local grocery store during its first year in business. Customers would often leave their carts throughout the parking lot. The owners and staff did not have return racks for carts because they did not want to convey an obligation for their customers to return them to the store—they wanted them to leave the carts in the lot for employees to collect. While a nice sentiment in theory, in practice they were creating a parking lot situation full of obstacles and potential damage to customers’ vehicles. After receiving feedback throughout the year, the store decided to install return racks in the parking lot. Some effort from customers is required, but they no longer need to navigate a minefield of carts or risk damage when they come to shop. Considering all feedback is a vital component of running a thriving business. Your experience audit will assist in determining validity, but you should always listen to what customers are saying. Your customer-service practices should be seamless and never overcomplicate the shopping experience.
The Product and Service Parallel
If the product you sell or the service you provide does not live up to your customer service, than your patrons will not return. All of the perks of choosing your business over your competition go out the window when what you offer fails to live up to expectations. There must be a direct parallel between the way you treat your customers and what you provide them—if there isn’t, your base will begin to dwindle. Customers may head to the shop down the road that doesn’t nail the customer service aspect, but always delivers the service or product they expect in the end. Shopping or conducting business should not feel like a chore best avoided; it should be an enjoyable experience, and one that your customers desire to repeat. A customer-centric culture defines you and will carve out your share in the market as the place to go—and put you ahead of the competition.
