Number 89: February 23, 2005

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This week in Katydid:

• Build Relationships Not Customers
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Build Relationships Not Customers
I am a tea drinker. No, I'm more than a tea drinker; I'm a tea connoisseur. I drink loose-leaf teas with a preference for Chinese white and green teas. I have a collection of Chinese Yixing clay teapots, each dedicated to a different tea, so that each pot is seasoned for specific varietals. All this is to give you an idea of my dedication to a beverage that is not coffee. So, why do I now drink double espressos every morning?

The answer is that I've been converted through service. My habits have changed because of how I've been treated at my local coffee shop. It has me in quite a quandary: is it more important to follow my tastes or reward the business for providing good service? I imagine you'd encourage this kind of debate in your customers if you could.

In the past few months, I've been working near Jolta Java, a coffee shop and café in Scottsdale, Arizona. I found the coffee shop because I needed a quiet place to organize my thoughts and a convenient place to meet clients. I also preferred to patronize a locally owned business. Jolta Java fit the bill. I could have breakfast or lunch, coffee or tea.

For years, I've been having meetings at the local Starbucks, countering complaints about the high cost of espresso with the line, "I don't think of it as a four-dollar cup of coffee as much as a four-dollar conference room rental." Most Starbucks, though, empty out after noon as scones and biscotti do not a lunch make.

Jolta Java offers everything you'd expect: good coffee, clean tables, and a discount program for frequent buyers. It also offers much more: a broad menu, a lounge for quiet reading, and internet access. However, none of that mattered a lick. They won me over with the simple trick of excellent personalized service.

They learned my name. Moreover, they remembered my name. At Starbucks, the barista over time often learned my order. Jolta Java not only knows my name, they greet me with it as I come in the door. You might think that it is the smallest detail, but until it happens, you don't know how shocking it is. They know me there. They remembered me from yesterday, or the day before.

After a few visits, it becomes a fix you need to feed. I want to go where everyone knows my name. I want to bring a friend because I like the little kick I get seeing his or her face register the fact that everyone knows me there.

Moreover, I've started to learn their names. It's become a relationship. That one act has transformed me from a customer to a loyal patron to the point where I've changed my habits. I'm not addicted to the coffee (well, the occasional headache on the weekend) as much as I'm hooked on the relationship. Sure, I felt a little pang of jealousy when I noticed that they greet many customers by name, but at least I know it's not just me.

This should be your goal for service and personalization. It's not what you know about the customer, it's how you use it. What you do with that information defines the relationship. Do you know your customer as an order, or as a person? These small distinctions are the difference between serving your customers and building loyalty.

And if you're ever in Scottsdale, come in for a cup of Joe. I'll be the fellow in the hat, sipping a Café Breva with a shot of caramel, and pondering how I'm going to break the news to my beautiful purple clay teapot waiting dutifully for me at home.

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Kind regards, 
Kevin Troy Darling

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