No one cares how much you
know, until they know how much you care.
-
Theodore Roosevelt
If anyone were to ask me,
“what’s the key to your success as a salesperson, retail store owner, boss?”, I
would answer: listening. Or, better put,
paying attention.
You’ve heard me say it before
on this blog: I know my customers, and I’m privileged to do so. I know their lifestyles, what their homes
look like, their kids and parents. I also
know what they care about – the charities and causes and little idiosyncrasies
that matter, really matter, to my
friends and clients.
But more than just knowing, I
care too. At The Menagerie my marketing
budget is 90% charitable giving. I give
to the causes that matter to me and to the causes that matter to my
customers. This isn’t an empty gesture
or a cynical ploy. It’s because I really
understand President Roosevelt’s point.
Why should I expect loyalty from my customers if they don’t think I care
about them?
Wouldn’t it be amazing if
more of business in America operated this way?
In such a way that customers felt cared for and companies made it a
point to support the things that matter to their customers. There are many companies that do this (Whole
Foods, founded and headquartered right here in Austin, comes to mind), and I
applaud them for it.
I’m not saying we get it
perfectly right at The Menagerie. Of
course we don’t; no one can. But day in
and day out, we keep trying. And that’s
part of this quote too. That’s the part
represented by that seemingly insignificant word ‘until’. The ‘until’ tells us that we don’t stop
trying to show we care until we,
somehow, get the message across.
And so, I’m up on another
Monday morning, getting ready for the week, and looking out for ways to listen,
pay attention, and care for those around me.
