Think of these "little thing" as marbles. When you do something "good" (such as answer the phone with a "smile"), you get a marble on the "good" side of the scale. Equally, when you do something "bad" (such as a poor response to a customer complaint), you get a marble on the "bad" side of the scale.
Now, you probably see where this is going... with more marbles on the "good" side, the scale will tip in that direction and the more likely the customer will choose you over your competition. Also, the more marbles on the "bad" side... well you get the idea. (Marble Theory by Larry Sharpe of Neo-Sage™)
Of course, the point is to get more marbles on the good side of the scale, keeping your customers raving fans. In your daily interaction with your customers, think of everything you do in terms of marbles. And remember, it's the customer's perception as to which side a marble will be placed, not yours.
Here's an example that contrasts three different situations and their levels of service. Notice how many "marbles" each situation is worth:
Jack eats out for lunch every day. He likes to try new restaurants, and returns often to the restaurants that he likes. This week, Jack has decided to try three new restaurants in his neighborhood.
On Monday, Jack visits the first new restaurant - the food is great, but when the server spills a glass of iced tea on Jack's lap, Jack is obviously upset. The server gets Jack a towel and apologizes for the inconvenience, but the server seems to be annoyed by what happened - almost like it was Jack's fault. After cleaning up the mess, the server doesn't say anything else to Jack.
On Tuesday, Jack eats lunch at the second new neighborhood restaurant. The food is also excellent. But when one of the servers accidentally dumps a tray of drinks into his lap, Jack's lunch experience is ruined. The server apologizes, provides Jack with some towels to clean up the mess, and offers to buy Jack his lunch. The server apologizes again as Jack leaves the restaurant and invites Jack to come back soon.
On Wednesday, Jack eats lunch at the third new restaurant. The food is very good, but not quite as delicious as the other two restaurants. But it's not Jack's week. A server dumps a tray of drinks into Jack's lap. The server apologizes, provides Jack with some towels to clean up the mess, and pays for Jack's lunch. The server also arranges with the restaurant's manager to give Jack and his family a free meal the next time they come in and to pay Jack's dry-cleaning bill to clean the suit and shirt he is wearing. The manager asks Jack for his phone number and, the next day, calls Jack to apologize again and reminds Jack about the free family dinner and paying for his dry-cleaning.
Of these three experiences, which restaurant is Jack most likely to return to? In the first example, the food was great, but the service was less than adequate. Jack won't be back. In the second example, the food was great and the service was adequate, maybe even above average. Jack might be back. In the third example, the food was good, and the way the restaurant handled the crisis was world-class. Jack will definitely be back.
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