Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

What Keeps Customers Coming Back?

The secret to retaining customers

Two weeks ago my wife and I invited a friend to dinner at the new Blue Ribbon restaurant. After the staff turned an unforgivable mistake into a wonderful story we now share with friends, it got me thinking about why I would return.

I realize that I, and almost everyone I know, keep returning and happily handing over our money to the same businesses. What makes these businesses special?

I believe their common denominator is a focus on hiring. Specifically, they hire people that exhibit these characteristics:

1. Kindness — People that genuinely care about others. Employees that are naturally caring and considerate tend to treat customers respectfully and courteously.
2. Gratitude — A complete lack of entitlement. People with a deep sense of gratitude who do not feel they are owed anything, but rather that they owe something back — that they ought to pay their gift forward.
3. Generosity — People who derive joy from giving have a natural tendency to think of others and what they could do for them. They are typically great observers, detail-oriented and better able to recognize a customer’s need before the customer themselves realizes it.
4. Empathy — “[T]he action of understanding, being aware…