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Back to Basics
Up Close and Personal Still Counts
By Richard F. Gerson, Ph.D., CPT, CMC
Here is a story about something that occurred while I was at a national sales conference in Los Angeles doing a Motivational Selling training session for one of my clients. Since it was a quick two-day trip, I did my best to stay on eastern time. So, I went down at 5:45 AM (L.A. time and very late for me) for breakfast and there was nothing open in the hotel until 6:30 AM. The bellman suggested I try a little grille down the street.
When I arrived, there were two customers at the counter and the waitress was talking with them. She immediately looked up, smiled and said good morning to me. As soon as I sat down in a booth, she was there with a menu, another good morning, plus how are you today, and she asked what I'd like to drink. She took my order and as she turned away, another customer came in.
She greeted that customer by name, put my order in and then proceeded to get his order ready without even asking what he wanted. She just knew. All the while, she spoke with the other customers in the grille, called each of them by name, and paid close attention to what they were saying (even if they were obviously retelling old stories).
This exact scene was repeated 4 more times while I ate my breakfast, which by the way, was very good and extremely inexpensive by any standards, especially LA. The waitress knew her customers personally and they knew her. She had just come back from a trip and everyone asked her how the trip went. She responded to each one in an enthusiastic voice as if they were the most important person in the world. It seemed effortless for her to repeat her story and pay attention to her people.
It was obvious that these people were regulars at this restaurant and that she was their waitress. And they were her customers. I was witnessing, without a doubt, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) at its best. And when I left, she thanked me for coming in, asked me if I needed anything else, and reminded me to come back whenever I could.
What does this example teach us? Ask yourself these questions. How many businesses know their customers by name? How many engage their customers in ongoing dialogue? How many employees know the preferences of their customers? And how many customers are truly interested in the personal well-being of the business they are frequenting?
If there ever was a model for excellent CRM, this grille was it. This waitress really put the R in CRM, and she probably doesn’t even know she’s an expert at it. She just knew how to treat her customers. She was at once friendly, respectful and grateful to all of her regular customers, and treated me as if I was a regular, as well.
And, they did all this without technology. There was no computer in the restaurant to track customers and their food preferences. There was no computerized touch screen to place the order and track inventory. There wasn't even a computerized cash register (she took payments in a cash box).
There is a lot that businesses in all industries that can learn from this waitress’s relationship-building and relationship-sustaining behaviors. She is a perfect example of what I call "the softer side of CRM", which is as important, or even more important, than the technology side of CRM.
You can be sure that the next time I am in downtown L.A., I'll be at her restaurant for breakfast. And whether it is two months, two years, or ten years from now, I'll bet she'll treat me like a regular.
About the Author
Richard Gerson, Ph.D., CMC, is President of Gerson Goodson, Inc., a coaching, consulting and training firm specializing in the psychobehavioral aspects of individual and organizational performance improvement. He is the author of 22 books and can be reached at www.richgerson.com, Richard.gerson@richgerson.com, or 727-726-7619.
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