The primary determinant in delivering consistently exceptional customer service experiences is demonstrating you care about your customers first and foremost. The more you and your team care about customers — and demonstrate it — the higher their level of satisfaction will be with you and the products and services you provide.

Not only will you become the primary solution to fulfill their purchasing wants and needs, you’ll also be the well-deserved recipient of their generous accolades and referrals.

Have you ever watched the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Divs?” If so, you likely understand the power that comes from caring for customers. On each episode, host Guy Fieri features several restaurants from across the country — along with their extraordinary cuisine. Each restaurant is recommended to the show by their customers, a result of being consistently cared for with both good food and service every time they step through the front doors. While those restaurants are in business and must generate profits to remain viable, customer satisfaction remains a top priority.

Take a moment to recall the last time you received an exceptional customer service experience from a company with which you do business. Reflect on the feeling you had in that moment. Recognize how pleasant it was, how satisfied you were, how good you felt and how the experience affected you in a positive way. I would venture to guess you’re likely to spend your hard-earned money with this amazing company again and tell others about the business as well.

Now, consider a time when you received a paltry customer service experience, one that left you feeling dissatisfied, neglected and unhappy. Left with this bad taste in your mouth, it’s safe to predict you most likely won’t do business with this company again. If you haven’t done so already, you’ll advise your friends and family not to do business with the company, either.

As a business owner, which of these experiences do you want to give your customers? Remember, the difference between an exceptional experience and an awful one lies in the level of care provided to the customer by each person they encountered when in contact with your company.

As an owner, your primary focus must be on growing your company through the attraction and retention of customers. The result will be a business that’s increasingly profitable. If you intend to take your company to new heights — to be among the elite — you must turn your attention to the level of care you and your team provide the customers who grace your company with their business.

Here’s the key: To earn the loyalty of faithful customers you — as the owner — must first care deeply.

A business owner with a profound and innate level of caring will hire team members who also care deeply and treat each member of the team with ongoing consideration and respect. In turn, team members will be happier at work, and their satisfaction will position them to share this same feeling of happiness with each customer. The result is an exceptional experience.

Caring in business is expressed in both words and deeds and is a direct byproduct of the attitudes and behaviors of the people who own and operate the company.

If, upon reflection, you recognize the level of care put forth by you and your team hasn’t positioned you to deliver exceptional customer service experience on a consistent basis, it would be wise to take immediate action and seek out professional assistance to change this.

In summary, here are two main points to remember. When business owners care about people, they position their companies to create happiness and satisfaction as well as profits. When team members feel truly cared for by the owners and managers for which they work, they pass this feeling along to their customers who, in turn, care about the company and generate repeat business.

The ultimate key to your lasting success lies in a simple and timeless rule: Treat people the way you want to be treated. The only way to achieve this is if you truly care. How deeply you care determines the amount of business that comes full circle back to you. This is a powerful way to lead and do business.

So, how deeply do you care?