They say wherever you go, there you are. Yet how present are you at any given time and place you find yourself? Many professionals appear in body but little else. Don’t get marked as missing in action.

In the last week I encountered the following professionals missing in action:

Out of Tune: My local mail carrier arrived each day, wearing her iPod and delivering my neighbors’ mail to me. She’s in her own world. She dumps the apartment’s mail in a pile each day. In addition to my mail I consistently receive mail from neighbors up and down my street, as well as mail of neighbors two streets over at the same street number. So much for accuracy. Doesn’t she realize close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades?

Disconnect: An airport shuttle driver who greeted us at our hotel and attempted to drive the entire route to the airport while engaged in a phone conversation he was in when he arrived. True, the driver used an ear-piece so we only had to hear his side of the conversation. Yet whether on surface streets or the freeway the constant was the phone call, not our safety.

Sickening Service: I showed up at my HMO for a doctor’s appointment and was greeted by a lack of greeting. The receptionist was on the phone, and without making eye contact, stuck out her hand for my medical ID card, processed it, took my money and returned my card, without saying a single word (to me). Her attention was reserved for her call. The call proceeded long after I paid and sat down to wait for my physician. No greeting, smile, acknowledgment of me as a valued patient, or even as a person. Hers was an extended personal call. (How do I know? I was forced to listen in the waiting room for the next 10 minutes.)

A Present Danger

Is it too much to ask that people be present when we interact with them? You say you’re multi-tasking, I say you’re giving poor customer service. And this applies whether you are in sales or service, interacting with external or internal customers.

You say you can do two things at once. As a coach I say it’s disrespectful and often downright rude to divide attention from a customer or client who has called or is face-to-face. And what’s more, the results speak for themselves: errors, omissions, sloppy products and services, missed opportunities to strengthen customer loyalty and allegiance. And a degrading feeling for customers held captive by inattentive service providers.

Are you Present and Accounted For?

Audit your own interactions with customers. Ask yourself the following:

- Do you greet them with genuine affection?

- Do you know and use their name? (Are you pronouncing it correctly? Not sure? Ask!)

- Are you giving them your undivided attention?

- Are you giving good and consistent eye contact?

- Are you preoccupied with a previous client, customer or call?

- Are you easily distracted?

- If the phone rings while you’re in conversation, do you let it ring through?

- Do you listen actively and intently or are you “faking” it?

In today’s world customers long to be heard, to be understood and to feel others care about them. Help customers feel connected! Show them you care. Treat them as if they’re the most important people in the world. For the brief time they’re in your midst, give them your undivided attention. Don’t just be here now…but hear now! Or, forever lament the loss of treasured customers!

Customers are the lifeblood of any business (whether it’s online or offline). So it makes sense to look after your hard-earned customers and give them excellent value for the cash that they hand over to you. It’s not about you. It’s about the customer and their wants and needs. Giving value will increase the conversion rate of leads to sales, number of transactions and average $ sale. This results in greater profits for you for less work.

You should provide products and services that you can be absolutely proud of and that you would have no hesitation in selling to family or friends. This leads to happy customers. Happy customers will buy more from you, more often. Happy customers will recommend you to other people. On the other hand, unhappy customers won’t buy from you any more and they will tell everyone of their bad experience with you… not so good for your business

A business transaction is a simple exchange… cash is exchanged for your product or service. The customer needs what you have (the product or service) MORE than the money that they give you. It stands to reason then that the product must be of EQUAL or GREATER VALUE than the dollars that are given to you. Greater value is always better because this adds the WOW factor to their purchase. The product should be loaded with benefits… not just “so-called” benefits in the sales copy but real benefits that the customer will really appreciate from you.

With every customer, you should endeavour to “go the extra mile” for them. A lot of people will be questioning whether it’s really worth going to “all of this trouble”. But just consider that going the extra mile for your customers will turn most of them into profitable “lifetime customers”. This is actually a lot “less trouble” than continually looking for new customers. So consider some really easy methods like “thanking” your customers, staying regularly in touch with them, giving them free tips and help (rather than just selling to them all time), and giving away free items of value (such as good e-books) for being such a great customer.

What if you get complaints from a customer? Even in this situation, you can turn this around and convert them into a loyal customer… if you handle it properly. If you get a difficult customer or someone with a complaint, stay calm, breathe (I’m not kidding), don’t take it personally or attach emotion to the situation. Do your best to listen to what the customer has to say. If you treat them with respect and show that you are trying to help them, this should go a long way to resolving the problem… and keeping them as a customer. Obviously, some people are never happy no matter what you do, so you may have to just “move on” in this particular instance.

It’s always easier and cheaper to sell to existing customers than to find new ones… that’s common knowledge. Bottom line is: if you don’t give your customers good value, they will simply return the product which isn’t good for your profits or reputation.