Customer Service Pitfalls

In one of my previous articles, I’ve pointed out that customer service is one of the major advantages small businesses have over large corporations. However, when someone is trying to provide a good customer service experience, I’ve noticed that a lot of people without much experience with entrepreneurship tend to take the old adage of “the customer is always right” way too far.

When a prospective customer comes in, it’s tempting to want to sway the doubting one over by offering a good deal, either by reducing the price or throwing in extras. Same with a client who is upset about some delay or the quality of the work. Some people even go so far as to give up profit, but keep the customer. I’ve had several competitors in the GTA region try to undercut the pricing in order to get more customers – and eventually they all go out of business after a year or so, because once they start raising their prices, their customers just go shop around.

In rare cases, such as when there’s a misunderstanding with a frequent customer and I want to keep him or her, or when there actually is a fault with the order, I will do what’s necessary to make things right, even if I lose money – but other than that, I always make sure to make a profit or at least break even. My advice is to do the same. I’ve had many clients who were promising to bring regular business for a discount, to send their friends etc etc, but a lot of them, after the job was done (and in a satisfactory manner) would just vanish after their order was done. People talk big and talk is cheap – don’t let promises of future payoffs cut into your profits . If you are to reap the benefits of your long term investments, your business at least has to survive until that point.