One of my favorite business gurus is Dale Carnegie. His observations on personal behavior and self-development are legendary. In his most famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, he mentions a point that has stuck with me for many years: the importance of remembering a person's name and using it whenever you meet them.
This is no small feat, especially if you have a business that has thousands of customers. What can you do, though, is to encourage your staff to use customers' names after they have made a credit card purchase: "Thank you, Mr. Jones. Is there anything else that I can help you with today, Mr. Jones? By using a persons' name you are showing them that they are not just a credit card with a pair of legs attached.
There are many times during an exchange when a customer may give you their name. If it's a telephone inquiry, it's normal courtesy to say who is calling. The customer's name should be noted and used throughout the conversation. I may be a little old-fashioned, but I encourage my staff to use formal titles such as Mr and Mrs when talking to someone they are not familiar with. If the customer says that they should call them by their first name, that's fine. Respect has been shown and continues throughout the conversation.
Some people have difficulty remembering names, but there are a number of techniques for making it easier. I have mentioned in my earlier books the technique I use, but I will mention it again here because it works so well for me. It's called memory association. Whenever I meet a person for the first time, I put a picture of them in my mind and I think of another person that I know well with the same name. For example, if I meet a man called Jamie, I associate him with a great friend of mine called Jamie. Whenever I see this man, the picture of Jamie comes into my mind and I remember the man's name. It works well for me and it has worked well for many of the people I have told about this technique.
Another excellent technique is to use the person's name repeatedly in the first few conversation so that you get used to saying it. After a while, you will have trained your mind to remember that name and it will come automatically without you even having to think about it.
It can be embarrassing when you forget someone's name. In this case, the chances are they have forgotten yours as well, so just get it over with and ask them.
I have also developed a habit from some years ago when I did a lot of travelling overseas for work and I was meeting a lot of people. After a sales trip I might have 100 new business cards in my folder. How on earth could I remember all of these people? I started to do something which has proven to be very valuable, even ten years down the track
Following a meeting with a new person, I sit down for a few minutes and write some details on the back of their business card. It might be something about the person that will jog my memory - perhaps they have purple hair. It might be something in their office that I can associate with them, perhaps a picture or a trophy or a book. There might have been something memorable in the conversation. I just jot down a few points and then, when I go through my teledex of business cards, on reading the back of any card I know exactly who that person is and a few details about them. Now I know that if they were to ring me or if I bump into them, I will remember their name.
Do whatever works for you, but try to remember your customers' names. Encourage everyone in your business to get into the habit of respectfully using your customers' names and the end result will be happy customers.
I also believe that customers like to know the name of the person serving them in a business. Because of this, I am a believer in name tags, particularly in retail-style businesses. Some people really don't like the idea of name tags (I have no idea why not), but it's a personal decision that I believe can make a difference when it comes to customer service.