RM Online - Keep customers returning by saving them time

"I need one more hour every day," a friend of mine recently lamented. "Maybe then I could get caught up."

I suspect if you polled most working Americans today you would find them in agreement. We are all busy and could use more time to accomplish all the tasks on our schedule.

Working Americans have one more thing in common: they are customers. If you operate a service business today, you can ensure greater customer loyalty by giving your customers the gift of time.

No matter what your work is, your customers are most likely very willing to give you money if you can save them time. Let me give you some good examples.

I do business with a local bank and from time to time I borrow a little money. The last time I needed a loan I simply called my loan officer, explained my needs and she processed the papers. After work, I dropped by the bank, reviewed and signed the papers in less than 10 minutes. There were two key timesavers here: I didn't have to take off from work - convenient hours - and I didn't have to wait for the paperwork.

An appliance dealer friend of mine in Oklahoma saw an opportunity to grow his business by scheduling deliveries for the convenience of the buyer. Instead of delivering on Tuesday, they schedule deliveries on the hour. Customers no longer have to take a whole day off from work. Usually, they can adjust their work schedule to be home an extra hour with no loss of time or convenience. This simple timesaver has been a great source of repeat business and terrific referrals as well.

A paint-store owner might suggest timesaving items such as trim guards, corner rollers, masking paper and power painters. You can increase your average sales, boost overall revenues and satisfy customers more effectively if you stay focused on the timesaving element.

A Missouri-based rental store owner focuses on two aspects of timesaving. He has computerized all rental forms so no regular customer has to wait more than a few seconds for the paperwork. In addition, all employees are drilled on how to demonstrate equipment for do-it-yourselfers so the renter knows how to operate it safely and how to do the job right the first time. Once again, this works beautifully for repeat business and referrals.

To begin the process of giving your customers the valuable commodity of time, take a good look at your business. First, determine when and where customers have to wait. Is it at the checkout counter, waiting for your staff to fill their orders or waiting for qualified assistance in making a purchase decision?

Once you see where your bottlenecks are, focus your efforts on finding solutions. You may need additional checkouts, more peak-time personnel or automated systems. Frequently, you can solve time problems easily with minimal expense.

Some businesses offer diversions for customers who must wait. Several family restaurants offer free coloring books and colors to keep youngsters entertained while waiting for meals. A shoe store might provide a foot-massage machine to relax customers. A women's clothing store could offer a husbands-only rest area complete with sports programming on a color TV.

The best possible strategy is to eliminate time hassles. If you can't, make the waiting as pleasant as possible.