Yes.

(Shortest article ever.)

Ok, maybe not. But let me explain. When most of us hear the phrase “Customer Service” we think about our cable being out or eating at a fancy restaurant or even booking travel. No matter what specific instance your think of, you are really only looking at the top of the Customer Service iceberg. 

Customer service is, at its core, an end-to-end aspect of any business. And it should be at the heart of your marketing strategy. As the saying goes, “it’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar” –that translates into thinking about potential customers as having the same value as existing customers. This changes the lens on the way you view your marketing strategy and expands it to include the entire purchasing process. 

If you put customer service at the heart of what you do, your potential clients will have a different attitude as they approach a purchase. It is a psychological truth that a happy person is far more likely to see the positive in any given situation, whereas an unhappy person will see the negative. So if you put a smile on your potential client’s face – aka, use “honey” – then their attitude throughout the purchasing process is far more likely to be positive. If you show them indifference, you’ll get indifference. When you start positive, and continue that throughout the entire process, you will get that reflected back–hopefully in terms of revenue and repeat business.  

So don’t forget to put the consumer first no matter where they are in the process. You can’t predict when they will engage, but they can predict that when they do, you will be there. With lots of honey.