kyla cromer dot com

Here’s the 5th post in my series It’s ALL customer service.  Enjoy!

Picture this: you’re at the store picking up a few things, and at the returns desk nearby you hear a customer being shut down before she can finish explaining her situation.  It’s not you, but it could be you, and it affects your feelings about the place.  Call it vicarious customer service.

The flip side: Yesterday the cashier next to mine noticed her customer was buying just one cup of yogurt, and volunteered there were spoons over at the snack bar.  A pleasant surprise to that customer, and also to me.  Clearly the cashier was on the lookout all the time for an opportunity to add a little something extra, a sort of informational lagniappe.

In a nonprofit there are many opportunities to show volunteers, donors, and participants recognition.  Seeing it on a website, in a newsletter, or at an event says these people are valued, and by extension, so are you.

The wonderful Wayside House, Inc. in the Twin Cities provides supportive housing and many other services for women recovering from addiction and mental illness.  Their newsletters highlight donors and volunteers, and also women from the programs.  This isn’t unique, but I believe that type of recognition may be the little something extra some recovering women need, and it’s more than inspiration.  They get the message their success is and will be noticed, and that it matters in the larger community.

Suppose someone comments on this post, “This is the dumbest post I have ever read.”  I can thank him for his input and perhaps clarify something, or I can say something about his mother.  Maybe I even know his mother, but you wouldn’t know that, and you’d draw a conclusion about me.  Or perhaps about my mother.

So here’s a new rule: Do unto others as you may one day do unto other others.  Because it’s all customer service.