Happy Valentine’s Day!

This day is when you get laser focused on showing your passion for the ones you love: your spouse, your partner, your family.

But what about your customers (internal and external)? How do you demonstrate your love and appreciation for them on this special day?

Leadership Tip
Treat your Valentines at home with utmost care and respect. And treat your Valentine Customers with utmost respect, too. Never take either for granted.

Love is earned and so is respect. You have to give both to get both.

How can you earn your customers’ respect?

Give them an experience of working with you and your organization they can’t or won’t get elsewhere. Some suggestions to consider:

• Develop a culture that is authentically customer focused. Think Disney.
• Only hire the kind of people who fit into that culture. Be selective.
• Offer products and services your customers want and are willing to pay for. Ask them.
• Train your team on being the best at delivering the experience they want. Constantly.
• Celebrate your customer experience successes. Every chance you can!

Building a culture in which customer experience is a top focus is easier to say than do. It requires more than commitment; you must learn from your mistakes and not repeat them.

Yet building a strong culture does pay dividends. Companies that succeed generally get paid more for what they offer, plus their employees feel more engaged and productive in the process.

It takes communication; it takes respect; it takes expert leadership. And it takes love-demonstrated on Valentine’s Day and every other day, too.