Matthew Hussey argues that businesses lose customers when they abandon basic friendliness, no matter how good their products are. A coffee shop story shows how a cold interaction kills loyalty. People buy from people they like and feel respected by.
Matthew Hussey here with Love Life. I want to get off the Love Life area today and talk a little bit about how to win in your business. And I have a key tip here, something that will be so obvious to many, and yet, just because it's obvious, it doesn't mean a lot of people are actually doing it. I'm in New York right now, and one of my daily frustrations, and it's not a real frustration, but it's something I sort of. It slightly depresses me in certain moments. I've been going to get my coffee in the morning and I am a bit of a coffee snob, so I like to go to the places where you have this hipster person in a hat with dungarees on making you a coffee in a very special way. And I have found a kind of a trend where the people serving are seem to have zero social skills whatsoever. To the extent that there's barely an acknowledgement when you walk in. There's barely a please when asking for your money. There's barely an acknowledgement that you've even ordered something. You know that moment where you order something and someone just starts making it without saying, okay, great, it may just be me, but it feels like there's somehow a trend here. It feels like we're getting worse at this. I was talking to a friend about it earlier because I thought, you know what? I don't. This isn't about me saying everyone should be happy and smiley all the time. Because there are plenty of days where I have my head in my phone in the way that I tell other people not to. There are plenty of days where I'm not in the best of moods or I'm a bit tired or I'm a bit frustrated. So I'm not the most sociable person in the world. I have probably as many of those days as the average person. I just try and kick the habit quicker when it does come into play, but I still have those days. My problem is that this is happening in business, that this is happening with people, that we want to be our customers. And I think that's a very strange thing. It seems to have become acceptable in our culture to run businesses where we don't actually have to be likable anymore. We don't have to be the people that people would want to do business with. It's almost like, I'm sorry for picking on the coffee people right now, because I feel like that's what sparked this. But it's not just the coffee people. But if we're taking that example. It's almost like because I serve this amazing coffee, which they do, I'm not doubting that for a second. The coffee they make is unbelievable. So much so that I keep going back. But when, if, if a coffee shop opened next to the ones that I go to right now, where I got even half a smile and a little bit of love going in there, I would absolutely leave these places in a second and opt for the one with more likability. And my message in a way is to all of those people out there who are maybe running small businesses or maybe even the people in big businesses who are dealing with clients, the people that are likable, the people that go out of their way to brighten up their customers day a little bit, to smile to, to be someone who other people would want to be around, those are the people that are going to win in the long term. I'm utterly convinced of it. I don't care how good your product is. And part of me is tempted to say that in a lot of businesses when they think their product is really great, they feel like they can get away with, with treating you in a slightly arrogant manner. They have an ego about what they're selling. And I find this in a lot of clothing stores as well. When you go into a certain high end clothing store, there's a, there's often this attitude that comes with it. And the, the, the lesson here is people always buy people. You know, we sometimes we go to shops just because we like what they have, but that's not sustainable in the long term. The brands and the companies that win time and again are the ones we actually enjoy buying from. My message is simple. We have to stop trying to be cool and stop having an ego when we're selling to people and when we're out there doing business and start actually being the type of person that someone enjoys spending money with. When someone is coming to us to spend money, when someone is coming to us to invest, they could be investing anywhere in the world and they're choosing to do it with us, that deserves a particular kind of respect and attention and kindness. And it's something that I find that is lost all too often. And I think it's a real shame. And the only comfort in it is knowing that ultimately the businesses that will win over the long term, the ones that won't suffer from the same fad like attitude that customers have, the fickle attitude that customers have, are the ones that actually treat their customers well. Those will be the ones that benefit from the loyalty that no one else does. So that's it. Come join me for the conversation on Facebook. Facebook.com forward/coach, Matthew Hussey. I will see you soon, SA.
