Making Money Monday. Make it about them: connecting emotionally

For meaningful, memorable sales, connect emotionally with people. A 2003 Gallup study found that “satisfying customers without creating an emotional connection with them has no real value. None at all.” Yet when Gallup looked at customers who credited emotional connection as part of their loyalty to a store, they found those customers visited that business more often and spent more.

Sharpen your listening skills, there’s no better way to understand the needs of your customers than by listening carefully to what they have to say and then finding solutions to fit those opinions and feelings. Tell stories, too. This humanizes your work and reminds others how you share much in common.

You can never say thank you enough. Take every opportunity to express gratitude through cards, modest gifts, or treating a customer to lunch. Be thoughtful. It goes a long way when your actions show that you think of someone as a person rather than just a customer.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen