Share the Love…With Your Customers!

February 14, 2008 at 3:15 pm | Posted in lipstick leadership | Leave a comment
Tags: communication, customer service, entrepreneurs, gratitude, lipstick leadership, love in business, money, networking, passion for your work, publicity, sales, small business, success strategies

Revealed in this month’s issue…

	A Note from Michelle: Mixing Love and Business…
	Lipstick Tip of the Month: “What I know is…” – Oprah Winfrey
	Show Some Love: The Ultimate Customer Appreciation…

In this month (only a woman could turn a day – February 14th – into a a month-long celebration!) dedicated to love, I thought it would be appropriate to write about how love and business can become a powerful combination. If mixed correctly, that is.

There are many ways to mix love and business. I believe any business that is without love is doomed. Whether it is a salesperson’s love for the product, an executive director’s love for the mission, a customer service representative’s love for the client…love is a critical element at work that makes a difference.

Last month, I wrote to you about my son Kevin’s quest for acceptance into college last year and the letter that I wrote on his behalf (“WARNING: A Lack of Leadership Could Be Hazardous to Your Career“). I’m sure you were able to see the love in that letter…but did you see the sales copy? I was “selling” Kevin as my product for the college to “buy into” as the perfect solution to their “problem” of filling the incoming freshmen class.

I was selling him as a quality product, a good risk, a person who could give back to the collegiate community. It was sales copy combined with a product demonstration (his interview) and a spec sheet (his transcript) that supported our sales copy. He got accepted and made the Dean’s List his first semester (I’m his mom: I get to brag!). I loved my product and so I sold my product in a way that could not be denied. A perfect example of love in business.

Lipstick Tip of the Month: Oprah Winfrey

“What I know is, is that if you do work that you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come.”
- Oprah Winfrey

Featured Article: Show Some Love! The Ultimate Customer Appreciation

Having the highest quality product or service doesn’t guarantee your business will be successful – you also need someone to buy what you’re selling. Obtaining long-term, repeat customers can only happen when they feel they have a positive relationship with you. Building a positive relationship can only happen if your customer likes doing business with you. They have to feel “the love.”

Ask yourself: why would someone want to do business with me? Why wouldn’t they? Think about being a customer: what would make you feel valued in the relationship? And believe me, if you’re doing it right, it’s a relationship! Here are some “loving” business relationships that translate into dollars…

I’LL DRIVE FURTHER TO BUY FROM YOU

I have some friends who own a liquor store about fifteen minutes from my house called Cove Ledge. (Notice I call them friends. I didn’t know them before I stepped foot into their store, and I never see them socially, but they are considered “friends” when I walk into their shop.) Though there are three or four closer liquor stores to my house, I drive the extra distance because Tim and Maggie – the owners of Cove Ledge – know me by name, know my hobbies, know my family and always inquire about what’s new with me. I also know about their dreams for the future and commitment to the community because they engage me in conversation and are friendly and personable as I shop with them. This is such a simple technique, and it makes a world of difference! They have successfully combined love and business in the form of customer service and a husband/wife partner structure.

UPSCALE CLOTHES…UPSCALE CUSTOMER SERVICE

Mitchells of Westport, a clothing store in Westport, CT, understands the value of long-term relationships with their customers. This very high-end, family-run clothier takes customer service so seriously that the CEO of Mitchells/Richards, Jack Mitchell, wrote a book about it: “Hug Your Customer.”  It’s a great study in the love behind growing a brand that is all about servicing the customer. Jack Mitchell and his team have practiced customer service by extending “hugs” – unexpected extras that include knowing each customer’s name as well as their family members and clothing preferences, to handing out free coffee and newspapers on the Greenwich commuter train platform, just to say “thanks.” They show their customers “the love.”

THERE’S ONLY ONE JEWELRY STORE ON MY LIST

Majestic Jewelers is run by another set of “friends,” Suzette and Chuck. When I feel the need to splurge on some jewelry, there is only one store I will go to. Besides having the chicest customer jewelry (Chuck creates it himself), Suzette takes an interest in her customers and their success. She helps to make important networking connections and is always available to her customers. She spent as much time with my teenage son on a $70 purchase for his girlfriend, as she did with my husband on a purchase that was significantly more (and she didn’t even know he was my husband until he got to the register!). I don’t need to go anywhere else for jewelry because Majestic Jewelers gives me what I need: beautiful product and “the love.”

INCORPORATE “THE LOVE” INTO YOUR BUSINESS

Take some of these things to heart and think of ways to apply simple relationship-building concepts to your business.

In this spirit, I ask:

Do you love your job?

Are you doing work that you feel passionately drawn to?

What would it be like for you to joyfully head to work each morning?

How will you incorporate love into the business of your work?

How are you building relationships that will be both personally and financially rewarding?

Incorporate “the love” into your business and reap its rewards. Happy Valentine’s Day!

P.S. Mom knows best…even at work? You better believe it! My new book, From the Kitchen to the Corner Office: Mom’s Wisdom on Leadership, proves that those “simple truths” from Mom – you know, the ones she repeated to you over and over…and over again – can be applied in the workplace for greater success than you can imagine!

I’ve coupled engaging and entertaining stories from my own experiences with business case studies illustrating how to apply lessons from Mom in your career. I also included stories from the dozens of powerful professional women I interviewed for this book! Check out my website KitchentoCornerOffice.com to learn more about my book and even read excerpts!