How are You Serving Your Customers?

Service is part of every business, including those that only sell products. And this is true whether we like it or not. However, if we like it, business will go a whole lot better.

Not long ago, I was at a toy store with my kids in a busy vacation town. Plenty of kids were in the place, and the fellow at the counter was of such low energy that it made me cautious in how I let my boys explore the toys ... which of course is part of the buying process. So his apparent aggravation with all the people and noise kept us from really exploring and wanting to buy. He was serving because he had to.

On another trip, we of course found ourselves in a toy store once more. Mainly because I love toy stores about as much as my kids do. Not only was this store cool because it had a ton of retro toys and even modern toys that you just haven't seen before, but also because of the woman at the counter.

This was a quiet place in a town without many visitors. The store was pretty much all to us, so I didn't want the kids making much racket while they explored. But the woman insisted they try things out. When one son found some chattering teeth, she made sure he put them onto the counter because they would be the loudest that way. She obviously loved having people there and chatting with us without getting in the way. She wanted us to enjoy ourselves. She was serving because she wanted to serve. And I was all too glad to see my kids get some toys there.

So how are you serving your customers? Not "how" as in "how are you doing it," but "what's the why behind it?" Because that will make all the difference in the "how."

Just for fun ... one of the toys we discovered there? A paper airplane motor. Who knew?