How to “Butcher” A Sale or Gain a Loyal Customer in One Easy Lesson

How to "Butcher" A Sale or Gain a Loyal Customer in One Easy Lesson

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Very recently my wife and I moved to a new neighborhood. And a new apartment (rental of course…not many banks give mortgages to freelancers   Along with all of the other acclimations to a new neighborhood came the finding of new places to do our food shopping.

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Strolling along the main thoroughfare in one of the adjoining areas, we came to a butcher shop. Our refrigerator was empty from the move and we decided there and then that we would do some restocking of meat (apologies to any vegetarian readers).

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Scene 1: "The Businessman Who Feels He Deserves and is Entitled to Have You as a Customer"

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We went to the freezer for some frozen ground-beef and asked the somewhat dour-faced man behind the counter for some breast of chicken. When it was time to pay, my lovely wife took out the only bill she had in her wallet, 200 shekel (shekel is the local currency which runs about four-to-the-dollar). The butcher’s dour face turned into a full-fledged grimace. "I hate it when people come in here with big bills," he began, "I’m not a bank. Don’t you have anything smaller?" We explained that we didn’t. He rolled his eyes and huffed and puffed.

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That’s when my wife and I looked at each other and frowned. I knew what she was about to say. "I’ll take my money back! You can keep your meat. We’ll go elsewhere!"

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And go elsewhere we did.

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Scene 2: "The Businessman Who Feels Honored and Privileged to Have You as a Customer"

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We were directed to another butcher about five blocks away.

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We began gathering the same items, though this time we received an approach and attitude which was quite different…

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…a butcher who was smiling, humming a snappy little tune, and one who began a pleasant conversation with us. "I don’t remember seeing you in here before?" he inquired. And thus, we explained that we were new to the area. He welcomed us both to the area and to his shop. Then he did something I have never seen done in a butcher shop in my life. Instead of weighing the chicken breast, trimming it as we had asked, and charging for the meat and the discarded trimmings as most do, he trimmed and then weighed. The savings might only have been a few dollars worth, but it was a wonderful gesture and policy which we commented and complimented on. He smiled and said, "It’s my policy to my valued customers."

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The butcher shop owned by him and his equally friendly brother is where we have been going since. Every time we go into the store we are treated like family. 

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How Not to "Butcher" the Deal: Lessons Taught to Me by a Great Businessman and Purveyor of Meat:

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The experience has taught me some valuable lessons and reinforced others:

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1) In business, first impressions can "make or break" the deal! In one case it broke it, in the other case it made it.

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2) Attitude can draw in a potential client/customer or drive them away. Nobody, I mean nobody, wants to deal with a miserable sourpuss!

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3) Seemingly small gestures of generosity and kindness can instill loyalty within the hearts and minds of customers.

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4) Customers are to be earned, valued and won, not taken for granted.

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5) If a customer is not satisfied with the service, professionalism, quality or attitude of a business or businessperson, there are plenty of other places to do business!

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6) Customers want, need and deserve to feel that they are human beings who are valued.

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These principles are relatively simple and take little more than common-sense to internalize. But as we found out in a butcher shop one sunny morning in Jerusalem, there are people who understand them and live by them…and there are some who just don’t understand!  

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Image Credits: Courtesy of all-free-downloads.com

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Hello. My name is Yonatan Maisel. I am a professional writer, published author and biz-blogger. 

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Job Shuk is a website and organization whose mission is "Connecting Israel’s Businesses with the World." Within the site itself are the profiles of over 1,000 business professionals, each an experienced, skilled representative of his or her field of endeavor. From programmers to marketers, from writers to website-builders, from graphic artists to healthcare professionals, transcribers, voice-over pros and much, much, much more. By clicking the icon below, your are cordially invited to check out the site and see the many business benefits which it has to offer!

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Disclaimer: Yonatan Maisel, the author of this article, is not officially affiliated with Job Shuk. He is not an employee, nor does he receive any financial renumeration. He is simply a very satisfied member!