Details Leave Lasting Impression, Can Build Loyalty

 A long time ago I sold foreign auto parts on the telephone. My customers were typically small foreign auto repair shops, whose owners had names like Otto, Franz, and Helmut.

One pair of Hungarian brothers had a very small shop. John had an excellent command of English, and spoke to the customers and vendors. Dobrei (with  rolling ‘r’ and  long “e”) spoke only a smattering of English, and spent the majority of his time cranking out the repairs.

They found us right after they opened, and I always handled their account, which grew to be sizable. When I decided to leave that job for greener pastures I called most of my regular customers to say good-bye.

“We will miss you,’ John told me “we never bought a single thing from another supplier.” I thanked him for his loyalty. “Don’t you want to know why?” he asked.

I wanted to think it was due to my sparkling personality and encyclopedic parts knowledge, but that obviously wasn’t the answer. I asked him to tell me.

“Because you were the only salesman who ever bothered to learn how to pronounce my brother’s name.”

I had done it out of simple human respect, but his comment sticks with me even 30 years later. I still cringe when I hear a real estate professional say “Meet the Smiths. They are from Wisconsin.” and the client says “No, actually we’re from Ohio.” Or “This is their lovely son Kenny” brings a six year old’s outburst of “My name is KEVIN!”

You can never know which personal information is most important to your client. Show that each one is important to you. Pay attention to the details.