13. Care

Have a genuine care for your customers. A great quote from President Theodore Roosevelt that is very true: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” When you value your customers, you genuinely want them to enjoy whatever it is you are providing to them, and always want them to leave happier than before they did business with you. Your customers will feel this from you and you will show them through your actions.

Happy customers leave good reviews and continue to contribute to your great online reputation, which will attract you more people to help and serve. I am not saying the customer is always right, but you must respect their perspective and try your best to accommodate. It is very possible to turn an unhappy customer into a lifelong customer with just one response to their concerns. Consider your customer acquisition cost, as well as your potential customer lifetime value. These two metrics could put things into perspective for you. You should also consider how that one bad review could impact your business.

Too many times I see business owners replying to comments on their yelp reviews bashing the customer publicly in an attempt to defend themselves. I can only imagine how they treated that customer while they were there. Not only do customers read the reviews, but they also read the responses to the reviews by the business.

Anything you post online will be a reflection of you and your business. You never want to look unprofessional. This should never be overlooked nor dismissed. Thinking that it’s only one customer and you don’t care if you lose them may be your true reaction, but to be thoughtful of your response is to be thoughtful to the person who came to your business and spent money.