Last time we emphasized the need to capture our customers’ hearts rather than their money.  Today I want to give some idea as to how to do this.  How do we develop a core of people with a sincere desire to serve others and to look at what’s in their best interest?

Here’s how: see.

We need to develop the ability to see what’s going on in people’s lives. It’s a trained skill.

In an instant you can begin to imagine what’s happening in certain people’s lives. I call it “see people with your heart.”  

I did this for years at Pizza Ranch (www.pizzaranch.com) . As people would come into Pizza Ranch and when I was training managers in training, I would occasionally ask them what they thought was going on in a guest’s life.  We would imagine a single mom with three kids struggling with raising children and supporting them financially at the same time.  We could imagine senior citizens struggling with health issues while living on Social Security.  We could imagine a husband and wife having a hard time getting along.  In their faces and in their mannerisms we could see joy, happiness, confidence, sadness, worry and loss. 

In their ages we could detect energy or struggle, health or sickness, youth and aging.  In the seasons of their lives we could see hopefulness or wisdom, searching or contentment,  being in their prime or looking back. 

We would see smiles and frowns, laughter and tears, joking and arguing, love expressed, and love withheld. 

When we see them with our heart what we see is not just customers, but people, human beings who all have stuff in their lives.  And when we see that, we are better able to develop an attitude and heart for service.  We serve willingly and wholeheartedly knowing that these people we come in contact with every day are just like us: juggling stuff in our lives. 

Yet, we can go even deeper in our quest to serve them and capture their heart.  We will turn to that next time.  

Capture the Heart of the Customer is a seminar that has made an impact on thousands of hospitality workers and organizations with a desire to serve.