Seemingly simple or even trivial things can make the difference between an unhappy customer and a raving one.

But there’s a warning here.

Adding value, or going the extra mile doesn’t usually mean you have to walk over hot coals for your customers.

And it doesn’t mean you have to give away profit either.

In most situations it’s the opposite.

All you have to do is the little things – the ‘little things’ that make a big difference to the CUSTOMER.

So don’t worry about giving away a lot of product, or a lot of times to ‘add value’ just use plain old good manners.

Let me give you an example.

I worked with a business that installed computer cabling. The size of a good order was about $50K to $250K worth of cabling.

The technicians that installed the cable were specialists and had a high degree of specialized knowledge. And they believed that they were doing a great service to their client by installing their cables.

But they got a lot of complaints… and do you know what for?

‘Trivial things’ as the technicians called it…

The customers were complaining about the dust, hand prints and foot prints left on their work desks.

You see the technicians usually had to get into the ceilings of the offices to lay the cables, and that meant standing on tables.

When the technicians got into the ceilings dust would start falling down onto the tables.

The ‘tables’ they had to stand on, and the ‘tables’ that collected all the dust were the customers work stations.

And the customers hated it.

The customers also complained that their computers had been moved.

Despite the regular complaints the technicians just laughed it off with a ‘get over it’ attitude.

And it cost the business thousands upon thousands over a number of years.

Their referral rate was nil, and they started losing long time customers.

And they couldn’t work it out.

To them it didn’t make sense.

After all they were doing highly specialized work that only highly trained people could do and the complaints were about ‘footprints’ and ‘dust’.

To them it didn’t make sense… but if you were the customer – how would you like it if someone came in and left ‘stuff’ all over your desk, moved your computer, and your ‘special’ things you have around it?

People get protective about their property.

And as a service to them, we need to respect their property.

So with some customer service training and some standard operating procedures we fixed the ‘problem’

Now the business cleans up after themselves and makes sure everything is left spotless.

Instead of stepping on desks – they have their own customized step ladders.

It’s the businesses way of ‘adding value’ and going the extra mile.

And it only cost a little bit of time, which of course was chargeable to the customer. And the customer was happy about paying it, because they were happy.

Here’s another example…

I have a graduate that cuts down oversized trees in people yards. When he’s cutting down trees sawdust flies everywhere… so he covers the flowers and garden with material to stop the sawdust flying into areas that the customers hates.

It’s my clients’ way of being unique and adding value.

Another client of mine services computers. And when they service the computer they clean it up so that it looks like new. The customer can’t tell what the technicians have done to the inside of the computer, but by making the outside look clean and spotless – like it was new, the customer thinks – ‘gee they must have done a great job’.

It’s the little things that add value and make you different.

There are numerous ways of adding value to your customers. And it doesn’t have to involve money – it usually just involves manners.

Treat people better than you’d expect to be treated.

That way you’ll add value, delight your customers – and you’ll grow your business successfully.

That’s the 16th secret of business growth – add value by using manners.

Copyright © 2006 by Casey Gollan. All Rights Reserved