Walt Disney once said, “There’s no magic to magic it’s all in the details”. Ahh, How true it is. Think back to when you planned a big event – a party, a wedding, a golf outing, a charity luncheon – how many little details had to come together to make a big impact? I’ll bet it was dozens!
Walt was (and his company still is) masterful at creating customer experiences that were so compelling, so real, and so memorable that people come back time and time again, with their friends, to experience his magic.
What about yours? Do all the details of doing business with you come together to make a remarkable impression on your customers and prospects?
They could.
Isolate and improve all the details of your business. Take a look at your packaging, your communication materials, your parking lot, your front lobby, your trucks, your website, your credit application and even your voicemail message. Do they all reflect who you are, what you stand for, and who you want to be for your customer? Do they all make it easy, clear, pleasurable and maybe even fun to do business with you? Do they make a statement about who you are and WHY you are in business?
Customers form their impressions of us from so many different places. Are the magazines in the sitting area ones they really want to read? I protested at my chiropractor’s office when all the magazines had something to do with boating, golf or extreme sports. The kind of patients he cared for didn’t match the reading material in the waiting room. We were getting his cast-offs. That didn’t make me feel special or valued or appreciated.
Contrast that with my dentist’s office. I never even mind a short wait since the magazines are fabulous and there is such a great variety – from health and fitness to food, to women’s magazines and cutting edge business.
The customer notices things you don’t. Can you approach your business with a beginners mind, a naïve eye, an open heart? Where can you make a small adjustment that makes a big difference?
Start anywhere – find things you can enhance, improve, update, uplift – all for the benefit of the customer. Does what you present to them shout “We CARE” or “We’re too busy to bother?”
Imagine this – you are looking to find a new accountant and get the names of a few people in town. You phone each one to set up a time to talk. Two people have a voicemail message that sounds something like this, “Hi this is Bob. I’m either on the phone or away from my desk. Please leave a message.” A third has a message that sounds more like this, “Thanks for calling. This is Randy and today is Thursday, April 2nd. I’ll be in the office from 8 – 2 today and then out at meetings. You can leave me a message here or call extension 638 and ask for Mel.
What do you instantly know about that third person? At the least, you know they care enough to make sure you know when they will be available and how to reach them if they are not. Randy’s paying attention to you in a different way than Bob is. Isn’t attention one of the qualities you want in an accountant?
First impressions and last impressions matter most. At the very least make sure how you begin and end an interaction with a customer leaves a great impression. I always believed that MAGIC stood for Make A Great Impression on the Customer.
Little things mean a lot. Go ahead take a look around – what little details can you make magical?
JoAnna
