Do You Love Your Customers
February 2007

Do You Love Your Customers?

We love ours so much we created a wonderful new website - check it out at www.lionhrt.com. Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to love and appreciation. It usually brings a smile to receive appreciation from people you care about and who care about you. In business, you send a greeting card to your customers every day in the form of products and services - and you want them to smile back at you. Yet studies show that 68% of customers who drop a supplier do so because of a sense of indifference or disinterest. So how can you consistently earn that “I love you guys” response?

It’s all about a heart-to-heart connection.

The first heart you need to connect with is your own. You’re familiar with the axiom, “If you don’t love yourself how can you love someone else?”. If you want to wow your customers, you need to know that your state of being when interacting with a customer greatly affects their satisfaction. So the first ‘customer’ you want to take care of is you.

Next in order are your internal customers. All of us are customers and suppliers regardless of our position on the org chart. Whoever relies on you internally to get their job done well is your customer. How you support them really matters.

No one wants to be treated as a cog in your machine. People are not their roles - take the time to connect with your internal customers – as human beings, not “your internal customers.” Find out what they need from you and how satisfied they are with the way you’re providing it. Sincerely asking how it’s going lets them know you care.

But don’t stop there. Really listen to their feelings and needs. Ask clarifying questions to assure you understand. Repeat back what you hear so they know you get it. Inquire what improvements you can make that will make their job easier. Odds are spending time on those improvements will make your job easier too!

Last, but certainly not least, is the end customer - the one who pays the bills and your salary. If you love yourself first, then the people who serve your customers, delighting the end customer happens much more effortlessly.

But let’s go back to that first customer – you – and look at a few examples of what is often in play.

If you’re afraid you won’t make your numbers this month, your anxiety will add a subtle pushiness to your communication. People will back away and avoid you – the opposite of what you're striving for.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a seemingly never ending list of responsibilities and tasks calling for your attention, then anger and resentment can fester. The human being needing your help encounters a person resentful of yet another obligation on the pile and will feel the imposition behind the phony smile.

If you are discouraged, then the joyless person greets the customer. There is no infectious enthusiasm for the customer to connect to.

In all these examples, the focus of your attention is on you, not the customer. And they feel it. There is something missing for them. Bottom line: they may not come back.

Change is simple, but not easy.

We’re human. We’re prone to ups and downs. We tend to judge ourselves and/or blame people or circumstances for what we wish was different in our lives. Our ingrained, and mostly unconscious perceptions of how the world works, create our unique experience of life. When that experience is unsupportive of what our heart knows to be true, we fall into internal conflict. Life becomes difficult and separation occurs; separation from ourselves, others, and our intent to serve. And, for sure, it hurts.

Try the LionHeart way to move through your next difficulty into an authentic focus on service to others.

Step One: Begin to notice and accept what’s really going on inside. You get lots of cues all the time to help you recognize your state of being. What kind of thoughts are you having? Are they supportive and positive or undermining and negative? What emotions are you feeling? Happy, content, grateful or scared, lonely, or angry? What does your body feel like? Open, free, flowing - or tight, painful, tired? Overall, do you feel in balance and at peace or off center in some way?

Whatever your state is, it’s OK. It’s neither good nor bad; not right or wrong. Allow yourself to feel your feelings without judging yourself. Now you know your starting point.

Step Two: If you’re off center, identify what’s bugging you. You get triggered (we all do, usually multiple times a day), by the underlying beliefs that decide a particular event or thought means something negative for you. Connecting the cues in Step One to what pulled the trigger, gives you an opportunity to examine your conclusions.

Using an example of an angry, complaining customer: what’s bugging you may be anxiety that this customer will yell at you if something doesn’t happen their way. Your “disconnection” cues might be a tight gut and feeling of fear. Your inner dialog may say you have to “make them happy” no matter what. This means the only choice you see is to placate them even if it compromises your integrity. This results in an unsupportive negative self-image….and it feels lousy.

Step Three: Get a second opinion. If it feels lousy there must be more to the story. There is always a path back to your center where you feel in balance and harmony. To find that path, you need to take time for inner reflection, where there’s a deeper truth and clarity.

Remembrance is an ancient practice we recommend for accessing this expanded awareness. It provides a truer perspective, and often, previously hidden options that will lead you back to a sense of peace and ease. In other words, you reconnect with your own heart. For a more detailed explanation of our Remembrance practice, go to: http://www.lionhrt.com/theremembrance.htm

When you learn to follow this inner guidance to take the appropriate action with your toughest customers, You’re ready to be of real service.

The key is to take the time to love and care for yourself first. You’ll automatically become more authentic. You will be present in the moment to see, hear, and empathize with other people. You will have a better understanding of what their real needs are beyond the words they use to communicate. You can meet them where they are.

When you have your own inner needs met, you have no reason to protect, hide, or grab the advantage. Your mind is clearer and more creative. You are at your best when it matters the most.

In those times when your customer has a really tough problem, you will create a raving fan instead of a former customer.

For some great resources to help you through the many common challenges to connecting with yourself and others – Your Remedy for Overwhelm, The Difficult Conversation: Principles and Guidelines, Appreciative Problem Solving, etc. - go to our website: http://www.lionhrt.com/resources/index.htm.

Or contact us directly at: http://www.lionhrt.com/contactus.htm, and we’ll help you break free from where you’re stuck – so you’re taking advantage of new opportunities to send heartfelt greeting cards to your customers. You’ll be delighted with what comes back to you!