There were times within living memory when restaurateurs and those providing for the chill-out trade could be laid back about their approach to business. They could afford the dubious luxury of adopting a take it or leave it attitude towards customers. I recall one restaurant manager telling my companion and me they were closing. They were not; he resented our not ordering a meal, although their drink prices were heavily loaded. Another airily told us to join the queue for a table; another sniffily suggested we return later. What goes round comes round, amigo.
Let’s look on the bright side of recessionary things; customers are hopefully better treated when they are as rare as hens’ teeth. During the recession it is the customer who calls the shots and they can be damnably discerning. It is their privilege to be so.
Businesses can do more to help themselves. It is at times like this when business proprietors really do have to pay attention to detail in order to make their service more appealing than those of their competitors. Being nice to customers is the obvious way. Let me offer advice that will have them reaching for the smelling salts: Why not give your customers something for which they don’t get billed?
The Chinese restaurants don’t need any lessons in business psychology and are much appreciated for ‘throwing in’ a free bottle of wine or two, or placing the help yourself Schnapps on the table. It is a customer-building art that penny-pinching Europeans could learn from.
I was part of the business gift revolution. As a young man I worked as a salesman for the Blackpool-based Starline Business Gift Company. It was an American-imported concept by which businesses actually gave your customers free gifts. It was a fairly tough thing to sell in Britain but ironically the smaller enterprises were the first to catch on.
A lady who regularly visits her hairdresser is a goldmine but until I called at the hairdressers a simple thanks were thought enough. After I had made my point the customer’s lifetime loyalty was earned by a simple gesture. The hairdresser, after the hairdo, would press a pouch containing a rainhood into the client’s hand, in case it rained. It was a small thank you that cost coppers but I can’t tell you how much this small act of appreciation was valued.
Garages were good customers. On servicing or repairing a client’s car they would attach a key fob to the car keys. On it of course was printed the garage contact details in case of breakdown. Again, for a few coppers outlay a client’s goodwill was gained.
Calendars and desk items were other ways of building and keeping customers loyal – and your business name on their desk. Printed pens; I sold them by the thousand. It was a doubled-edged business booster as on the one hand it was an appreciated gesture of thanks whilst the customer was giving the business a free advertising ride.
A London-based estate agent never advertised. Instead, he always made sure there was a welcome home hamper delivered on the day his clients moved in. His customers did his advertising for him. Guess which was cheapest. Go on; give your customer the occasional free dessert and get them back time after time.