I happened to be in a Verizon store the other night to learn about a few smartphones. I wasn’t on a buying expedition but rather to collect knowledge and gather information.
I was met by a sweet lady who started educating me on the different options. Then she suddenly turned to me and asked me whether I planned on upgrading during this visit. I responded that I wasn’t, but that I was simply looking to empower myself first.
Poof! It’s like someone shut the valve.
She went from being super nice and solicitous, to almost cold and indifferent. She thanked me and invited me to continue browsing, but said that she had ‘other customers’ to attend to (I was one of only several shoppers in the store at 8:45 pm and there were clearly more workers than customers at that hour).
So basically, I was no longer the prospective customer, because I didn’t plan on buying today.
This was very unnerving but hardly surprising. Welcome to reality?!
No, not really.
Where I come from at Regency Nursing Centers, we have a different reality.
Our reality is consumer empowerment, first and foremost. It doesn’t matter a lick, whether the family is in need of immediate assistance for postacute therapy for a loved one, or if they are ‘just shopping’.
Everyone is treated with the utmost seriousness, attention and dignity.
Indeed, we generate sales by empowering the consumer. We WANT them to ‘window shop’ with us, because once they do, they won’t turn back.
There is no ‘next stop’ after you’ve discovered the Regency Experience.
We many not ‘make the sale’ today or tomorrow, but we understand something the lady in the Verizon store didn’t; there is NO competition when you go the extra mile for your customers.
Hey, perhaps we could in-service the folks at Verizon!
‘Nuff said.
