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Show Customers and Employees You Care

by Vicki Lenz    

Meanwhile, a Gallup report finds that recognition is one of the top three most important drivers of employee satisfaction.

Caring on both fronts is critical to loyalty, and loyalty has been proven to be key to profitability.

The need for care is universal, since we're all both rational and emotional human beings. Sadly, caring is somewhat lacking in business today—which is precisely why you can come out ahead when you practice caring.

Caring is not about what you say. Rather, your level of care for others is reflected in what you DO.

We can all learn a lesson about caring from Hallmark Cards, the company you trust "when you care enough to send the very best." Hallmark's secret to success involves caring. Three "emotional" areas point the way to what you can DO that shows customers and employees you care.

1. Earn their trust.

Start by taking a look at your desired brand or company identity. What unique emotional promise does it make? Do you consistently deliver on that promise? Companies start earning trust as customers connect on an emotional level and know they can count on the company being true to its promise.

Think what would happen if Hallmark started producing vulgar cards on cheap paper stock, or X-rated Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. Customers would no longer trust in Hallmark, because its behavior would be inconsistent with its caring promises and image.

Likewise, the first step in attracting and keeping the right employees is defining what your company believes in, stands for, and works toward. One of the ways to communicate your promise to employees is in a clear statement of the company's values and purpose. But it has to be more than a promise. You must continually live your values and purpose to earn loyalty.

2. Deliver on experience.

Experience applies to every contact that customers have with you or your company— in person, by phone, e-mail, literature, website, retail store or office, and of course use of your product or service. Experience happens before, during, and after the sale. Customers expect to experience you and your company in ways that are consistent with your promised image.

Do what computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) does with its "100 Points of Contact" program. HP identified contact points, ranging from the retail environment to the service support center to the repair person who visited a customer's home. Then they studied each exchange to ensure that it fit into the overall customer experience the company wanted to deliver.

In addition to the information and transaction-related contacts with customers, make sure relationship-building caring messages are part of the picture.

One of the most common reasons an employee leaves a company is having a poor relationship with a manager. In Gallup's list of 12 qualities that describe great workgroups, item five is: "My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person."

Managers demonstrate caring by treating employees as individuals, seeking out and finding ways to meet their specific needs, recognizing good work, and rewarding achievements.

3. Save them time and energy.

Make it convenient for customers to do business with you, and value their time. Respond promptly to inquiries, and provide quick, easy, and worthwhile ways for them to reach you and to buy.

Look for ways to take steps out of the process, like car rental firms do for their customers. Members of the Hertz Gold program can skip right by long lines at the rental counter and go directly to the lot where their car awaits.

Go the extra mile by anticipating customers' needs and personalizing service, like Amazon.com does with automatic, relevant recommendations and one-click ordering.

Make your employees' lives easier through workplace perks. Some companies provide errand services, employee gyms and catered lunches, while others offer cell phones or laptops for personal as well as business use.

Not only do these three areas provide opportunities for you to clearly differentiate your company from the competition, but research shows they actually drive the majority of customers' decisions to purchase, and employees' decisions to remain loyal. It's no longer enough to merely provide a great service, product, or a familiar brand name. Customers and employees want and need for you to meet their emotional needs—by showing you care.


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Vicki Lenz is a Louisville, Kentucky, based writer of stories for companies, consultant, speaker, and co-author of "EMOTION MARKETING: THE HALLMARK WAY OF WINNING CUSTOMERS FOR LIFE." Phone 502-499-5635; website www.vickilenz.com.