The guy at the bank drive-up said, "Thanks, Bill...have a great weekend."
Really? This is a fairly new branch for me and I've been out of the public eye in this town for over a decade.
There was a time that unknowns calling me by name was not unusual. I was pictured and quoted in the paper a lot. I was on the top TV morning show once a week. Having unknowns saying, "Hey, Bill," was fairly common.
But today? I'm way off the radar doing my own thing. Most don't even know I'm still in town.
So, this teller has no idea who I was...or am. But, he called me by name...and it felt good.
Of course, he had my contact information on his screen and it was easy to know my name. But, that is the difference between businesses that get it...and those that don't.
Greeting any customer by name changes the equation every time.
Look for ways that you can...
...and then, there's the dead giveaway, like when I make a cash deposit to one of our joint accounts, and the tellerette says "Thanks, Toni, have a nice day".
Posted by: Tim Morrissey | July 17, 2012 at 08:07
Better than asking you to autograph a CD or album, I guess ;)
Posted by: Bill Geist | July 17, 2012 at 10:09
Calling a customer by their name is such a basic element to customer service. I know some people are afraid to mispronounce a name they aren't familiar with but it sure can go a long way to ask how to pronounce it and then say thank you. Thank you for shopping here. Thank you for banking here... whatever the case simple gratitude is a good thing.
Posted by: MA | July 20, 2012 at 15:27