Hug Your Customers!

Maybe not literally, especially if you have an online business.

That would be hard.

But Hug Your Customers is the name of a book I'm reading, and I'm recommending it to you.

The book is written by Jack Mitchell, the Chairman of Mitchell Stores, a three-generation family business that operates men’s and women’s specialty stores in Connecticut, New York, California, Washington and Oregon that are nationally renowned for their personal service touches and strong relationships.

(let me share with you the description of the book from Amazon, since I just started reading it)

Mitchell, whose father started the business, shares the secret of his success in this unoriginal but cheerful guide to keeping customers happy.

Hugging your customers, he says, has nothing to do with being touchy-feely around them and everything to do with offering them over-the-top service.

For Mitchell, that means literally offering a customer the coat off your back, if that's the only one left in the store in the customer's size and preferred style and color.

It means going to customers' homes to tie their bow ties for big events.

It means serving coffee and bagels in the store and giving away hot dogs in the parking lot on summer Saturdays.

Some might view this as fawning, but for Mitchell, it's the best way to keep customers coming back.

I love the message in the book.

For one, it aligns with much of what I talk about in The Grateful Entrepreneur.

But it also can be summarized into this simple concept: be kind to others and make them happy.

Which is the foundation of a successful business.