Several Winters ago, I broke my ankle after slipping on ice. When Spring rolled around, my wonderful wife Lee gifted me with lawn service so I wouldn't have to limp around our yard with a lawn mower. She hired Terry, an easy going, friendly man who does a consistently terrific job at a reasonable price. We've been so pleased that even after my ankle healed, our lawn mower has remained unused in our garage.
Yes, there are lots of folks who can cut grass and plenty who have sought to win our business. Yet, we remain loyal to Terry because, in addition to his excellent regular service, during Fall he removes the leaves from our lawn each week at no extra cost. It would be much easier and quicker for him to mulch the leaves along with the grass, but this would not look as "finished". Instead, he collects them with some kind of riding rake, and then cuts our grass, leaving our lawn looking very neat and tidy. This also saves me and Lee hours of leaf collection on our Fall weekends. This "extra" is a key reason for our loyalty to Terry. We have also enthusiastically recommended him to a number of our neighbors. Others have also seen the terrific results themselves and have directly approached him to do their own lawns.
This is a long winded way of making a point that should be taken to heart by any service provider...and each of us is a service provider for customers, even if we're employed within a corporation: while providing service, we should always do what's expected, of course. However, we should also do what's unexpected to delight and meaningfully add value for our clients. In other words, we should rake the leaves even if (and especially if) it would be quicker and easier for us to mulch them along with the grass. Adopting this can-do approach should provide better outcomes for our customers, which in turn should engender loyalty and should also help us to earn new customers through word of mouth recommendations.
Our value added contributions won't be the same for each customer. Each of us should take the time to discern we can do to elevate our customer offering while meaningfully differentiating us from our competition. Over time, our business results should reflect our value-added approach.
"Connecting You With The Right Solutions" BFS Innovations, Inc.
Since 2005, BFS Innovations has helped its Fortune 500 clients with technology scouting, new business creation and business development services. Contact Michael today at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 614 937-2408 to discuss your company's needs.