WHAT I LEARNED FROM FRANK FROM MICROSOFT

I am an avid fan of both the Microsoft Surface tablet(s) and Microsoft's Windows Phone because they perfectly suit my way of mobile working.


A few weeks ago I was sitting in the United Airlines Club waiting for a flight when another traveler saw me using my Surface RT tablet and asked me how I liked it. I told him that I liked it a lot and the discussion got around to what I specifically liked about it compared to the Surface Pro (I have one of those too). Making a long story short, as he was leaving the Club, the traveler introduced himself as Frank, a Microsoft Corporate VP, and he thanked me for being a loyal Microsoft customer and asked me to send him my contact details, which I did. Today, Frank dropped by my office and delivered a ‘thank you’ gift from Microsoft’s product line


Here’s what I learned from my interaction with Frank:


1. At successful companies, every employee looks to get customer feedback whether good or bad.  This wasn’t the first time that a Microsoft employee had seen me using one of their products and asked me how I liked it and what I thought any shortcomings might be.


2. Not only did Frank thank me, he also followed up, in person.  I told many people about my meeting with Frank including just how impressed I was that someone from Microsoft was genuinely interested in how I liked their products. The lesson for anyone in business is to actively inquire from customers how the customer feels about the level of service being provided and then follow up in person.


3.Use interactions with customers to tell them about upcoming improvements or innovations in the product or service offering.  Frank certainly gave me an insight into the efforts Microsoft is making to improve on the products that we spoke about. For professional service firms, clients are truly interested in knowing what the firm is doing to improve the level of service and about any innovations that will benefit them directly.


Whether or not you are in love with Microsoft, everyone in business can learn something from my experience with Frank about creating great customer relations.

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