Your type of customer

If I walk into your store, and you think, "you are not the type of customer I'd like to have," then you can either say that, or you can...

• ignore me
• make it obvious that I'm bothering you
• be impatient with my questions
• acknowledge me, and then help the person who walked in after me
• speak condescendingly

But if you'd like to have my business, you can interact with me as though this moment is the sought-after opportunity for you to sell your wares or services. Because that's what it is, isn't it?

When you want a customer – that is, a person who makes it her custom to do business with you – then you need to cultivate that relationship.

It starts by saying, "Hello! How can I help you?" ...and meaning it.

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How could I not reference this movie?

Still from the shopping scene in Pretty Woman. Dir. Garry Marshall. Touchstone Pictures, 1990.