Last year, a customer signed a contract to one of my companies for a service that was cancelled last minute. When he cancelled, he offered to pay the entire contract amount, but I let him off with just the deposit. Why? Because that’s good service.
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Treat Others How You Want to Be Treated
The golden rule is a secret to success in small business. When you are dealing with customers on a regular basis, it is imperative to keep them happy. Return business is a great source of success for many entrepreneurs.
How can you get customers to come back again and again? Treat them the way they want to be treated. Be friendly, patient, responsive, and reasonable. It is always great to go above and beyond customer’s expectations to build a great reputation, but start with the basics and you will get great results. The “golden rule” should also be applied to how your treat the employees in your organization as well. To learn more techniques on increasing costumer and employee satisfaction, consider earning an organizational leadership masters degree and start seeing repeat business successes.
A Little Money Lost Today Could Be a Lifelong Customer Tomorrow
If your service or product is something people may need again, think about the long-term value of repeat business.
If you lose a customer today over a small amount of money, you may lose out on years of repeat business and profits. I ran an event last year and gave a few unhappy guests a 50% refund on their ticket price. If they come back to the next event, I’ve made my money back on the decision.
Try to Understand Their Perspective
While you are the expert in what you do, remember that generally your customer is not. That is why they paid you instead of doing it themselves. When you have a custom satisfaction problem, try to look at it from their point of view.
In general, the best place to start with any disagreement is to find common ground. Understand their point of view and explain your service. Without talking down to them (people hate that), try to explain the reason things went the way they did. Sometimes, that may help you avoid an angry customer without any cost.
Hold Your Ground When They Are Wrong
Some people say “the customer is always right.” That is a complete and total load of crap. The customer is often right, but not always.
Do almost everything you can to make your customer happy. In most cases, a discount, replacement product, or discount on a future service is enough for them to walk away with a smile. Other times, the customer is just an asshole and you will never make them happy.
If you are in a clear situation where you can’t fix things or patch them up, stick to your guns. I had a customer complain after an event about something 100% out of my control in a very negative, nonconstructive way. I just ignored it and figured if they don’t come back, it’ll save me a headache next time.
How Do You Help Customers?
What are you best customer service strategies? Please share you best ideas and stories in the comments.
About Carson Derrow
I totally agree that the customer is not always right and to “do unto others as they would do unto you”. Respect is a two-way street. I always begin a business relationship by over-delivering on quality, interaction, feedback, etc
Some people live by the motto “the squeaky wheel gets all the grease”. That’s fine if the squeaky wheel needs some maintenance to be 100% perfect. But if that wheel is crying out for attention at the expense of all the other wheels for no good reason, you better start concentrating on the other wheels.