Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Many years ago I was an avid fan of the television show Cheers.  The characters in the show were a wonderful collection of bar mavens that America fell in love with.  If you asked me who my favorite character was on the show I would be hard pressed to name just one.  It would be easier for me to name a character I didn't like which was none.  I loved them all and I'm guessing you did too.  What was it that was so magical about a show that by my estimation was shot 75% in the same location, with the same characters in their same seats every week?  Ah, familiarity.

Who could forget the raucous "NORM!" cheers every time he walked in to the bar?  Or Cliff's postman witticisms that were simply hilarious.  The one I remember best is "It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear."  Genius.  I've had a few of those days myself, Cliff!  I think one of the reasons we all came to love the show and the characters was defined in the show's opening song. 

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same You wanna be where everybody knows your name."

If I were to ask you, where is your favorite place to eat, what is your favorite place to shop, which hotel chain do you prefer to stay in when you travel, I bet you have a favorite.  If you're like me, you go to the same place more times than not.  Why?  Because you like the way it feels when you go somewhere and people recognize you, acknowledge and affirm you and if they happen to greet you by name - WOW! what a great feeling.  Admit it, we all want to be Norm. 

So my question and challenge for this week is how do you treat your customers?  Are you grateful for their business?  Do they know you are?  Many, many companies have come up with customer loyalty programs to reward their best customers.  Most of them do an OK job at giving perks to the customers who they earn the most from but very few do a great job of making their customers feel truly valued and appreciated.  Those that do are the ones that draw the most customers and not surprisingly the best talent for employees. 

Our challenge is to make our customers brand fanatics.  When they think of buying what we're selling we immediately are the first company they think of.  If we'll take time to reach out to our customers, listen to them and then give them what they ask for we're well on our way.  Then add in a few unexpected surprises that really WOW! them and you've got them as customers for life. 

Sounds easy but only a few ever do it really well.  If your desire is to grow your business I can't think of a better place to start.  It will definitely put you in a place where you exceed the Norm!  Cheers!