Halloween is a great time of year. The kids get excited to dress up and go trick or treating. I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever remember knocking on a door and saying “trick or treat” only to be told “trick.”

Fortunately, this makes for an enjoyable Halloween for the kids. So what does Halloween have to do with your business? Well, your customers are like those trick or treating kids (minus the costumes).

Is your business giving tricks or treats to your customers?

10 Tricks Your Customers Hate

Here are some tricks you should avoid giving customers:

1. Shrink your products’ packaging while raising prices
2. Hide behind a phone tree
3. Fight with customers
4. Stick it to your customers
5. Sell a shoddy product
6. Tell your customers they are wrong
7. Provide inconsistent information to customers
8. Stand around idle while your customers wait
9. Let your website throw confusing errors at customers
10. Treat current customers as second class citizens to “new” customers

10 Treats Your Customers Love

Here are some treats your customers will love to get:

1. Show the Customer some empathy
2. Share a deal or discount with customers
3. Do something for customers instead of just telling them what to do
4. Do more than the customer expects
5. Be proactive in your customer service
6. Make a personal connection with your customer
7. Remind customers of the benefits you’ve provided
8. Reassure customers when big changes are happening
9. Respect your customers’ time
10. Explain the details to your customers

Regardless of the time of year, customers love to get treats and hate being tricked.

You want your customers to return to do business with you again. If you consistently provide the sweet treats they love, they will come knocking again and again.

Elections are just around the corner here in the United States. This year we’ll be electing a new president and a whole bunch of other local and state officials.

I can tell election day is getting near because I see more and more “vote for me” signs stuck all over town. These signs congregate near stop lights, on corners, against fences, and in peoples’ front yards.

All these signs have something in common: they have the candidate’s name in big letters and almost always have the office they are seeking.

Unfortunately, this is about as much information as you get.

What’s missing?

How about “why should I vote for you?”

Where are the benefits, changes, ideas, or issues you want to discuss?

It would appear that most candidates are hoping for name recognition at the polls in lieu of any research voters will do.

Is your business doing the same thing?

If you are to win over customers, you can’t rely just on your name. What if customers have never heard of you before? Customers may not even know what your company does.

Take advantage of your marketing to go beyond name recognition. Customers vote with their wallets. Tell customers why they should vote for you.

Give Control to Customers

My wife and I went to lunch recently at the Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chao.

Fogo operates on a simple premise: servers wander the restaurant with a wide selection of meats. You have a little round token that sits on the table to indicate when you want meat. If you want more meat, you flip the green side up. When a server passes by with meat, he will stop and offer you some. When you want to take a break or are done, you flip the token over to the red side.

The customer is in complete control of how much and when he eats. Instead of a server constantly asking, “Do you want more?” the customer can indicate preferences without interruption.

How can you let customers tell you what they want without harassing them or asking them endless questions?

Customer Needs Change Over Time

At first, I flipped my token over so that it was green for several minutes. I was barraged by a constant stream of servers bringing all types of delicious meats.

As the lunch progressed, I got more selective and picky with what meats I wanted.

Just as I filled up during my lunch, customers will change over time. What you first sold them may not be the repeat sale. What worked last week may not work this time. You’ll need to be alert to customer’s needs and wants and respond accordingly.

Ask the Follow-up Question

At a time when I had the green side up, a server passed by with a cut of meat I didn’t want. When I said, “No thanks,” he responded with, “Do you have any requests?”

This response immediately forced me to tell him what I wanted. No sooner had I answered him that my sirloin choice was brought to my table.

When you find out the “why” or the “what” behind a customer’s response or request, you can more quickly get to the root issue or preference and serve that need immediately.

Don’t be afraid to ask the follow-up question.

Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad, answered a question about creating buzz in Inc magazine’s October 2008 issue with some profound insight:

Advertising is the tax you pay for being unremarkable.

Robert had to bootstrap his business and didn’t have the money to advertise. His business flourished because of word of mouth referrals. Being remarkable is a surefire way to get people talking about you. Seth Godin reminded us of this in his Purple Cow book.

When you view advertising as a tax, it no longer becomes the standard operating procedure for your company. Just because everyone else does it doesn’t mean you have to throw away your cash on the same thing.

If you embraced the constraint that you couldn’t advertise, what would you do to acquire customers?

Provide outstanding customer service as your marketing?

How about encourage word of mouth referrals?

Any way you’d slice it, you’d have to get creative. In so doing, you will probably even see ways to refine and focus your advertising message should you choose that path.

I love Costco. I get giddy when I go there. I don’t know if it is the abundance of free samples but I’m sure that helps.

On a recent trip to Costco, there was a big thunderstorm brewing nearby. I knew that by the time I got out of the store, it could very well be a torrential downpour typical of a summer thunderstorm in Texas.

I didn’t want to get wet and I surely didn’t want my purchases to get soaked either.

I rushed through the store and picked up the items on my list. As I waited to exit, the guy that checks receipts said, “We’ll get you on your way before the rain hits.”

That little interaction literally calmed me down.

Your customers have individual needs and concerns. The environment they live in is often a source of stress to them.

In this frazzled state, customers show up to do business with you. When you are aware of external circumstances that may effect a customer, you can empathize with them.

This does two key things. First, it shows you are human, too, and not a corporate machine. Secondly, it allows you to serve customers more efficiently. If you know their needs because you are paying attention, you can provide the solution customers seek even before they ask.