I visited Mom over the weekend for Mothers day. She has had a lot of medical appointments over the last few months and my Dad and I were talking about some of the more memorable experiences.
One was coming out of the orthopedic center in a snow storm and the young nurse that wheeled Mom out to the car and helped her into the car struck a nerve with my Dad when she hugged him as they completed the task of getting Mom into the car.
A hug; It doesn’t take much, does it? And yet this small act of kindness is reverberating around my father’s world four months later. It still make him misty eyed.
As we were calling around over the weekend to talk with professionals, there were those that were just that, “professional”. They were perfunctory with, “name, date of birth, phone number, alternate number, what are the symptoms”, and so on. Then there were the two that took an extra moment and asked, “How are you?” or, “How is she feeling?”
Then there was the Physician that returned a call at 10:00 PM. He answered my Dad’s questions and helped him feel good about what to do.
None of these actions were monumental, they did not require significant effort, nor did they require large outlays of capital. But I can tell you they made a huge difference to my folks. I can tell you that my Dad will be telling his golf buddies, his study group, every one of his friends, and anyone who will listen about this.
Who is your best salesperson or representative? Your Customers! My father is not only a reference he is an enthusiastic advocate because someone took an extra minute to connect in a real way. They offered small acts of kindness and they made an immeasurable difference.
In the hustle and bustle of your day to day business, are you offering small acts of kindness?
– To your staff
– To your customers
– To yourself
Take Good Care and remember what a big difference a small thing can make.
Little things do indeed make a difference in our business and in our life. Treating your customers like human beings instead of like customers is a small thing in terms of the difference in what you actually do, but a huge thing in terms of how you are viewed by them. But in our hyper paced world where twitter , facebook, cell phones and text messages provide instant connectivity, we forget that the most important connectivity comes with a touch, a smile, or even a kind word.
Thanks for posting this, John.