Customers Can be Your Best “Fortune”
March 31, 2009
If you take the time to understand and appreciate your customers’ needs, you can achieve loyalty and lots of repeat business.
Taking the time to know your customers and anticipate their needs can go a long way to developing loyal customers—ones who may even become some of your best sales people.
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Chinese food. Not the fast-food type that you get at the food court in the mall, but the kind my Uncle introduced me to when I was growing up in New York City.
My passion for authentic Chinese food followed me to Rochester, NY, where I attended college. There, it took me over three years to find a restaurant that was comparable to the one I went to in New York City. From the first visit to Shanghai Restaurant, I was impressed by the quality of the food and level of the service provided.
In fact, this restaurant was the first place I took my wife to for dinner when we began dating. As our relationship developed, so did our love of Shanghai Restaurant. Whenever we stopped in for dinner or for Sunday brunch, we were warmly greeted by the owner, William Sun, and his wife, Julie. A bottle of Wan Fu wine was placed at our table minutes after we sat down, with the waiter confirming our regular order for dumplings.
Because of the great food and warm, friendly atmosphere, we felt it was time to plan a banquet for a group of our friends. Before the banquet, we met with William to select the menu. “Cold Appetizer Plate,” he suggested. “Winter Melon Soup, Buddha’s Special Chicken, Spicy Bean Curd with Pork…” Right down to dessert, he created a menu that sounded great and tasted even better.
Several times a year we would plan a banquet and what amazed us was how each time William remembered every dish we had previously ordered. He would say, “How about Eight Treasure Duck – no you had that last time. Peking Duck? No, you had that two times ago. Ah, how about Mandarin Spicy Duck! You haven’t had that one yet” How he remembered this was beyond our comprehension, but he was always right!
When it came time to plan our wedding reception, there was only one place we could have it…Shanghai. One day late in November we walked into the restaurant and told Julie that we needed to schedule a banquet in May. She gave us both a strange look and asked, “Are you getting married? It’s about time!”
If you take the time to understand and appreciate your customers’ needs, you can achieve the same degree of loyalty that kept us coming back to Shanghai time and time again.
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