Last year I bought a new car, and I have to say it was a really good experience. I have always hated going to the car dealer because I was never sure if what they were telling me was true.
I didn’t know if they really were interested in making sure that I got a good deal and a good vehicle or if they just wanted to make the sale no matter what the cost was to me.
So why was this experience different? It was the connection between myself and the person who helped me. The sales person was very straight forward, no hype involved, and she owned the same vehicle that I was looking at, so she really knew the car from experience.
Every question I had she had the answer to. But more than anything else she was nice and a real person, we just connected and I could tell she did care about the people that she sold cars to because she felt that she was responsible for helping them make a good choice for them.
I did not buy the car on the first visit and amazingly when the next day came she did not call me like a few other dealers did trying to get me to come back in to buy the car they showed me.
When I did go back to the dealership to ask her a few more questions and take another test drive, guess what? I had to wait (over an hour) because she had several customers waiting for her.
This said a lot to me about the type of person she was, because there were people waiting for her and there were several sales people on the floor just standing there doing nothing, and the other customers would rather wait for her than to have someone else help them.
This got me thinking, do people think that way of me when they come to my place of business? Would they would rather wait for me to help them than to be helped by someone else quicker?
People can tell when someone really cares about them and wants to help them. It is called making a connection. Can you think of a good experience that you have had with a doctor, dentist, accountant, sales person, etc., where you felt the same? What was it that made the experience good?
I bet it was that you connected with them and felt that they really cared about you. If you are in a people service business then those that come to you come for help or a service. Ask yourself if you are connecting with them during your encounters.
A few ways you can measure if there was a connection is, are they coming back to you? Do they send others to you? Do they leave your place of business happy?
I have given the name of my car salesperson to several other individuals so far and will continue to do so. Self-examination is always good. When you are with your patients, clients, customers tomorrow be aware of how you are doing in the “connection” section, it will make a difference in the total outcome of the encounter and your future business.
08/13/14
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