Good deed for the day
The other day I helped a friend of mine help a friend of his. As we were carrying in the elderly neighbor’s new hot water heater, my friend said “You have done your good deed for the day.”
What is a good deed?
His implication; it was good because I didn’t receive anything in return for it. I wasn’t paid. I spent my gas, time, and energy without any tangible benefit to me.
I had spent all day, cleaning and showing a house to potential tenants. It is a really nice home extremely close to the University of Louisville. I enjoyed living there as a student, the home is nicer than when I lived in it. Now students get to derive the same benefits I enjoyed while living there. Were those activities good deeds?
If we are paid for an activity is it no longer a good deed?
In January one of my daughters contracted strep throat. She couldn’t even keep water down. She was extremely dehydrated and had a fever. After four hours in the emergency room she was doing much better.
Was that a good deed the doctor and nurses performed? I was glad to give them some silly green pieces of paper for what they did. It was a very good deed for my family.
Some will say “Yeah, but that is medical; it is different”
So here a few people who have done good deeds for me in the last couple weeks (most of them received green certificates of appreciation) For more info on green certificates of appreciation I recommend reading “Thou Shall Prosper”
- Plumber unclogging a toilet at one of our properties
- The other 7 people who showed up the monthly Small biz meeting
- My wife who prepared dinner 3 times this week
- The cooks, servers, and managers at the restaurants, where I dined
- The contractors helping me renovate a home
- The people at the utility companies that provide me electricity, internet, water, and fire for cooking
- The road crews repairing the roads in West Lafayette so I have a smoother ride to church and daycare
- The people who make the disposable cups I use to hold coffee
- Bill Gates for having the vision to create Microsoft and the slew of programs I use
- People at WordPress who created the CMS that allows me to post these articles with ease
As you can see there have probably been millions of people who have done good deeds from which I benefited from over the last couple of weeks. Each of us specializing allows all of us to benefit. Unless you are a drug dealer, thief, etc.; your specialization is valuable and a good deed. It provides benefits for those who consume your product or service.
Almost all of us are doing good deeds when we work. I don’t have to do something for free for it to be my good deed for the day. My days are filled with doing good deeds. Whether spending time with my wife and children, preparing the books for a business, managing our rentals, or writing these articles. “It is all good” Be proud of your good deeds today!!!
Who has done a good deed for you today?
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You can whistle while you work (just not at the customers)
You can whistle while you work (just not at the customers)
My wife and I went shopping for suits the other day and walked into a small Tux Shop. This store is inside the local mall with a variety of formal tux attire for sale or rent. The only employee was sitting behind the register as I gazed about the store looking at the various choices. The clerk asked in a rather disinterested tone “can I help you?”… As I pondered my response while looking at the products on display, he whistled at me to get my attention. As I rebounded from the shock, I told my beautiful wife “we are done here” and promptly left.
As we continued walking looking for a place to make our purchase, my mind wandered off thinking about the decline of service in customer service in our nation. I hold no animosity toward this person, rather on the contrary I am quite grateful for the perfect example of how shop owners can create a unique selling position in today’s marketplace. Below are a few basic steps to providing Phenomenal Service, that will keep people talking about your business and products.
“The Sales Process”
1. How do you build relationship in a retail setting?
Genuine and sincere desire to meet your customer’s need. This is hard to measure and yet your customer knows when you are just after the sale or there to truly help them.
Greeting and Gratitude: Welcome them and thank them for coming to your store. Stand up, walk toward them, and smileJ they need to feel like they are the most important thing in that store (because they are).
2. “What brings you to our store today” (insert store name)
Response 1: “Just looking” This is a great opportunity to point out featured item and/or sales that are going on, and that you will be available if they have any questions.
Response 2: “Specific interest in an item” Begin to ask questions that allow you to ascertain why and how the customer plans to use this product. These questions will allow you to target your product knowledge to show how it meets the customer need or perhaps direct them to another product or additional products to meet this need.
3. Share relevant information about the product features and how it will meet the customer need.
Don’t list everything, be specific on features that will interest your customer, and explain how those features will meet their need.
4. Close the transaction “If you were going to take this home today would you prefer blue or red?”
Use questions to move them to a decision, this allows them to feel in control. People love to buy things, but many don’t like to be sold things. Great questions allow them to walk away talking about how great their buy was. People don’t walk away and discuss being sold to.
Great customer service will cause people to return more often and recommend their friends and it will lead to promotions for people who provide it. Start today, make an effort to provide phenomenal service and see how it will impact your life in a positive way.
Where have you had memorable customer service?
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48 days book
