How to impress your clients beyond words and turn them into loyal customers

 Last year I came across a small business owner in a big industry full of competition, and what he did took me completely by surprise and won him my custom hands down.

This is a very important lesson for every business owner: one that you can’t afford to miss.

So let me tell you what this man did that impressed me so much…

Whatever your business, it’s likely that you have competition. And whilst competition is a good thing for the consumer, it makes things harder for the business owner.

Especially the small business owner who is competing against big corporates.

And so, with this in mind, one of the only ways to survive against the Giants is to distinguish yourself.

And you do this by delivering excellence.

But how do you outperform the big corporates?

Well, on a global basis you probably have no chance (unless you really do have something unique that appeals to everybody, like iboprofen).

Small business owners operating in a local market don’t have the resources that a big corporate – or a chain – has, but they do have something that can help them outshine the competition…

The local touch.

It may not seem like it on first read, but the local torch is a phenomenal weapon at the disposal of the small local business owner.

When you walk into a big superstore, part of a huge chain, to buy a PC, you’re normally in a faceless, somewhat cold environment in which you can’t connect to anything but the price tag of your chosen machine.

You’re normally served by a suit, either fresh out of college with a degree in nonsense (sorry, marketing…) or by a sales veteran that seems somewhat out of place in this big environment.

On the other hand, when you go to your local PC shop, run by one or two passionate guys, and you get a personalised set up, a few great tips and sometimes even a bit of software thrown in…

… in they care about their business, of course…

And it’s this kind of treatment, these one-to-one interaction in which the business owner hears your needs and lends you their experience and takes time to make sure that the product you get is tweaked for your specific needs, that turns you into a loyal customer.

How a local small business owner turned me into a loyal customer

When my car needed an MOT, I forgot. As usual.

By the time I realised, I had only one day left and they hadn’t booked a slot in the garage that I normally take my car into.

This garage I speak of is part of huge chain, who also provide my car insurance.

The perk (or the gimmick, depending on how you look at it) for me is that I get the MOT with a small discount thrown in (because I insure my car with them).

However, this time I couldn’t book a slot. They were full. So I have no choice but to drive down to my local garage, a small independent old-fashioned garage, which actually isn’t that far away.

My MOT was going to cost me slightly more, but this was my own fault.

But here things got a bit complicated…

The local garage was also booked full that day. It was Thursday, and they could fit me in the following Monday.

The issue I had is that it was I was travelling away the very next day (not by car though) and I wasn’t coming back until the following Friday, seven days later.

I had a dilemma in my hands.

The car’s MOT would run out when I was away, which means I wouldn’t be insured to drive it to a garage when I returned.

Some people would say ‘Oh, chance it. It’ll be fine. You’re only driving down the road…’

Those people wouldn’t do well in business with that attitude.

It’s not so much about getting caught; it’s more about running somebody over or crashing into a wall (or somebody crashing into you) and not having insurance.

Fill in the blanks on that scenario.

So that was my dilemma, which I explained to the garage owner.

He was nonplussed when he said: ” just leave it in the car yard, and I’ll sort it”.

The car yard is big enough for about 15 cars and is there for the use of customers. There are big iron gates that are closed and locked overnight.

The business owner was kindly allowing me to leave my car not just overnight, but for an entire week.

As for payment, he told me to pay when I got back.

This, in itself is not that impressive. Anybody with a bit of room in the car park can spare a car space when it means getting a sale.

When I returned on the following Friday, I arrived home to find that my car parked in my drive.

When I open my front door I discovered that my car keys have been posted through the letterbox.

Somebody had driven my car all the way from the garage and either returned by foot or had somebody else for him.

Somebody went to all that effort, when it wasn’t really necessarily a part of the deal.

Somebody went to all that effort to make things very convenient for me.

I was home, and I had my car. I didn’t need to get a lift or pay a taxi to get me to the garage. I didn’t need to spend an hour dealing with this, because they had gone beyond the call of duty to make things easy and convenient for me.

I was amazed.

I drove to the garage immediately and settled the bill, and I couldn’t thank him enough.

This year when my MOT was due again, I had plenty of time to get down to the garage, book my car and claim my 10% off.

And it gets better…

The garage owner recognises me. He even remembered my name!

Perhaps he checks his book to see which clients are due, but if that’s what he’s doing then it’s still very impressive. It means he’s putting in the extra time and extra effort to distinguish himself, to provide the local touch, to outshine the competition.

And again, this guy impressed me yet again!

When I popped in to book a slot, I mentioned that my headlight lightbulb had failed, and if he could take a look at it during the MOT.

He asked me if I had a spare bulb, which I had, stopped what he was doing and fixed it for me there and then.

At no charge.

And a few days later, the same day I dropped the car off to him, he dropped it back right outside my door again, even though I was at home.