Thank you for smiling at me!
Thank you for smiling at me! You know who you are! (although you probably don’t read this blog)
What a difference it makes to smile and be friendly toward your fellow human beings. ‘Service with a smile’ is the basis for all customer care training. We have all experienced the grumpy, rude individual who is clearly not happy to serve you your lunch. They plonk the food in front of you with all the social graces of a baboon. You tentatively ask if you might possibly have a jug of water and they fix you with a withering stare before huffing off toward the kitchen. You can’t help but wonder if they might spit in your water and wipe your pizza around the floor before they gave it to you. Would you leave this person a tip? If you did it would only be because you are so very English. I bet you wouldn’t return to that restaurant though and it is more than likely you wouldn’t recommend it to your friends.
Anyway, I digress, what I was trying to say was; make sure the public face of your business is friendly and helpful. A business of any sort will function better if it emulates good feeling. Be sure to value the customer relationship; if your clients’ are happy and well looked after, you can guarantee a recommendation. A common mistake made by companies, particularly in the service industries is to go all out on marketing to new customers and forget about the existing ones. After all it is easier to sell to someone who has already bought into your brand; they don’t need any more convincing!
The power of “Word of mouth” should not be underestimated or overlooked either when looking at strategies for marketing a company. I shall not forget the effect on people serving me in restaurants, when allowing them a little glimpse of my press pass (back in the day) when opening my wallet. The dawning realization of what I might mention in my review spreads across their faces. They rally round in a flurry of attentiveness, but the damage is done.
So remember, it is the little things that count when you are vying for business in today’s saturated markets. A simple smile might be the reason a client chooses you over your miserable competitor! 
Toni
