Are you profit-driven or customer-service-driven? The truth is, you can be both by fully committing to just one of them. One simple and consistent strategy can generate all the business you want—and at the price you want.
Focus on the customer in every possible way, and the profits will naturally follow. Deliver a superior level of service that completely satisfies your customers, and they will reciprocate. They will demonstrate this through regular and ongoing business, by making purchasing decisions based on service and convenience rather than price, and through the most valuable outcome any business can achieve—recognition and referrals.
But what message are you sending when you reduce costs to drive profits at the expense of your customer experience? You cannot diminish your service offerings and expect your regular customers to remain loyal. How long do you think that will last? Likely only until they find an alternative that prioritizes them instead of your bottom line.
I have seen countless businesses cut costs, believing the changes will improve profitability. Making these decisions without considering the impact on customer service is incredibly short-sighted. Yes, there are ways to cut costs, and every business should engage in that ongoing initiative, BUT never at the expense of the customer.
- Consider the understaffed restaurant with only one server. What is the perception? What is the outcome?
- Consider the retail store with only one checkout attendant. What is the perception? What is the outcome?
- Consider eliminating a sales representative from an account and requiring customers to place their orders by phone. While this may appear financially justified, it is essential to evaluate all alternatives before implementing such a change. What is the perception? What is the outcome?
Many prominent businesses understand the value of focusing on “customer first.” Their philosophy is simple: “go for wow”. They want every interaction to end with a “wow,” and why shouldn’t that be the standard for every customer experience? One such retailer is Costco. Their attention to the customer is exceptional. It was mentioned in a previous blog that it took me 20 minutes to make an exchange at a local retailer. It was what should have been a very simple process: one item back, take another. This cannot happen. That same exchange at Costco would take a quarter of the time, even with a much longer line. They understand volume, they staff accordingly, and they continually adjust as traffic increases, and your business will grow if you follow that lead.
As a business owner, you absolutely must reduce costs, and this blog isn’t arguing against that. You should regularly evaluate spending versus revenue and make changes that genuinely strengthen the bottom line, but never those that alienate your customers. You can cut costs effectively and improve profitability, but cost-cutting measures that appear logical on paper can have the opposite effect in practice. Be very careful with this one.
Any change that impacts the customer should be reconsidered. Yes, there may be short-term financial gain, but over time, that gain will be eroded by lost customers. If you build a reputation for exceptional service, you will be rewarded with consistent, loyal, and additional business, even if your prices are slightly higher.
