I love to read short blogs sometimes…and I love to write them too. This is one of those short ones; Blogs don’t always need to be long.
It’s about strangers. And Customers
We know we have paid customers
We know we have internal customers
We know we have potential – future customers
We even know we have lost customers
But what about strangers as customers?
What do you mean, Nancy?
I mean – Are strangers your customers?
Let me explain –
We sit next to strangers on the airplane, in movie theaters, buses, trains, restaurants – all sorts of places.
We inter-act with them. Often in depth Some tell us their life story before we even get a name and sometimes we never do get a name. We often tell strangers our darkest secrets. Therapeutic that it is; strange isn’t it?
We shop next to strangers – we talk to all sorts of strangers. Even though we were warned as a child NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS. Ever !
We say “excuse me” to strangers when we bump into them at the mall. We say “thank you” to a stranger who might help us carry a package – or pick up something we dropped or hold a door for us. When a stranger says “thank you” to us – we invariably tell them “you’re welcome”.
There is even a great old movie (shown above) called “Strangers on a Train” remember it? It is about two strangers who meet up on a train and decide they should kill each other’s spouses. (I’m not saying it’s a good idea – simply revealing the plot)
Often times at Christmas there are folks running around giving money to strangers. People they don’t know – and will probably never see or talk with again. We donate money to strangers all the time.
We tip strangers at restaurants. Sure, they do a job for us. But nevertheless they are still strangers.
So I ask you – Are you nicer to strangers than you are your customers?
Or are strangers your customers?