You can call them micro-insults – the tiny things that most annoy your customers.

Sadly, unless you ask, you will never be able to correct them. You and your people will continue to do or neglect them.

Rick Houcek, who writes a weekly inspirational column (rick@SoarWithEagles.com), told his country club clients:

“You’re all customers, too. When you’re a patron of a hospitality establishment – restaurant, hotel, night club – what little things annoy, irritate, and drive you crazy?”

Putting it in the 1st person changed their perspective. Problems were easy to identify.

The country club employees quickly generated a long list of micro insults: No separate checks, no menu substitutions, crumbs left on the table, water glasses not refilled, no table candles lit, wait staff not smiling at the initial greeting, up-charges for extra items on a hamburger, table linens with holes. 

The country club employees recognized they did some of these things that were easy and inexpensive to fix.

Ask your employees the same thing. When they are customers, what micro insults annoy, irritate and drive them crazy?

How do they apply to your customers? Fix them to keep your customers happy.

We share such strategies in our “Uncover Your Inner Sales Genius.” For a complimentary copy go to JerryBellune.net and join the mailing list.

Next: What motivates your customers?