The BV Blog

Do you remember when you were growing up and your parents used the old adage “honesty is the best policy?” And when you told the truth you were thanked for your honesty, but punished for the bad deed that you had to be honest about?

Well, times have changed a bit. Honesty is still the best policy, but in business it’s how you deliver the truth that counts.

The Get to the Point newsletter I receive daily from Marketing Profs pointed me to a favorite blog, The Church of the Customer. In an April posting, Jackie Huba tells a great story about honesty and customer relations from clothing retailer J. Crew.

Our office recently held a seminar on the Language of Commitment, presented by Molloy Business Development. Our speaker was an inter-personal communications guru, and he had a great communications philosophy– Truth over Harmony.

It’s the same philosophy Huba’s salesperson had when she told her the dress made her hips look big.

When you’re faced with a decision to placate a client or customer and keep the peace, or tell them what you really think and risk hurting their feelings, go with the latter.

It’s never easy to tell someone their clothes aren’t flattering or that their ideas aren’t good, but when it comes to customer service, it’s necessary to rip off the band-aid. The next step is to offer a way to make things better, either by suggesting a new outfit or a better idea.

The truth might sting a little, but your honesty will be appreciated and respected, and you’ll have earned a customer for life.

Related posts

• USE MUSIC TO CREATE THE RIGHT MOOD FOR YOUR BUSINESS
• THREE POWERFUL WORDS FOR BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE
• SERVE UP MORE SALES THE RESTAURANT WAY
• WHO (OR WHAT) IS ANSWERING YOUR PHONES?
• WELCOME TO THE AGE OF COMMITMENT

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm and is filed under Marketing Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.