“Make sure 2 put a smile on your face when doing a job, especially when serving others. Small thing, HUGE effect!” — Ted Rubin

Every opportunity you get to interact with consumers is an opportunity to help them like, love, trust and recommend your brand. Whether you’re a mom and pop cafe or a big box retailer, you need to make sure that every person that walks through your door has a great experience — one that they’ll hopefully want to pass on. You and your employees directly impact the image of your brand and for no reason can you ever afford to be anything other than nice.

Word of Mouth is Your Best Ambassador
You’ve probably heard that you only get one chance to make a good first impression, but did you know there’s a good chance that interaction may never be between you and your potential customer? Everyone carries a certain level of clout within their circle of family, friends, co-workers, etc. and their opinions carry a tremendous amount of influence. Add social media to the mix with apps such as Yelp and Foursquare and comments from complete strangers create additional challenges. Your reputation depends on the experiences people have while interacting with your brand, and they can either be your greatest champions or your worst critics. Be nice and you won’t have anything to worry about. You’ll never hear a complaint that a customer was totally disgusted with the friendly and helpful service they received or that the waiter smiled too much and was way more attentive than he should have been. If these are your problems, you’re on the right track. Happy customers make the best sales people.

Focus on the Experience
Think of a customer experience like dating — if you want a second date, you need to earn it. Smile, listen attentively, open doors, pull out chairs, be on your best behavior and remember, niceness counts. For the entire duration, that one individual should be the only thing in the world that matters — your future with that person depends on it. There are plenty of other “fish in the sea” that can replace you and they don’t have to give you more time unless you’ve made an impression that you’re worth it. If you make them feel like they don’t matter to you, you’ll find that you won’t matter to them either. The same applies for your customers. Treating each and every one like they’re the only one that matters can mean the difference between a single purchase and a long-term relationship. Give them an experience they can’t wait to come back for again and again.

Don’t Try to be Memorable, Be Remarkable
You can’t just go through the motions and expect your customers to love your brand. You have to be so passionate that it becomes contagious. From the moment you walk through the gates of Disney World, everyone around you embraces the magic that makes it such a special place. People come from all over the world to experience it and every employee understands that they are an extension of the brand and they have the responsibility to uphold what it stands for. Yes it’s their job to be friendly, but it’s their passion that makes them truly remarkable. You have to go above and beyond what’s expected and do all the little things better than anyone else. Being remarkable isn’t hard if you believe in the magic of your own company. Help your employees to understand that they’re the ones that make it so special and that they have the power to bring joy to people, if only in a brief smile. Remarkable people as well as remarkable experiences get remembered every time.

Perfection is not required, but with so many other options out there for your customers to choose from, you can’t afford to be anything but nice. After all, how much does it cost you to be nice to your customers? What’s the price of a smile and how much extra do you charge for courtesy? For such a small investment, the return is huge.