I read an article today by Mike Moran talking about an unpleasant customer service encounter he experienced at a furniture store.
To make a long story short, he basically spent over $700 there and the furniture he bought required 3 small bags of hinges retailing at $5 a piece. Somehow by the time he unloaded his purchase into his vehicle, one of the three bags came up missing, at which point he had to fight with the customer service department to get another one (which they wouldn't give him). Read his version for the entire story.
Cutomer Loyalty
His point, which I think is a very valid one, is that they are risking losing any future business from him by treating him in a rude manner over $5, even though he just spent over $700. 
This is customer annoyance (one of my favorite phrases) at its finest. He was clearly not there to rip them off, and because the store's customer service department was so stubborn over something so insignificant, there is no telling how much money they will be missing out on when he never goes back.
This is basically saying that customer loyalty is worth about $5 to this store. But that's only one aspect in which this store could be hurt from this ordeal. Mike was so peeved about this incident that he wrote a lengthy blog post about it.
A Damaged Reputation
Now I don't know much about the number of readers Mike has, but I would wager that he has a pretty good following. There is no telling how many people read this story and will continue to read it as it remains on the Internet and finish with a bad taste in their mouth toward the furniture store.
There is also no telling how many people will refer to the article and/or link to it such as I am doing right now. I am choosing to leave the company's name out of it since the beef isn't mine, but others may not be so courteous.
The moral of the story is: if you are going to treat customers poorly, you better have a good reason for doing so, and get more out of it than saving $5, which you possibly might not have even lost in the first place. Don't annoy your customers!
Don't Let A Bad Reputation Drag Your Business Down7 Steps to Earning Customer Trust OnlineHappy Customers Buy Again5 Ways To Turn Off Customers (for Brick and Mortars)Customer Experience is More Than Customer ServiceSave Your Customers Money, Get Them to Spend More with You5 Key Ingredients to Surviving in Online BusinessOnline Reputation Management for Local BusinessesManage Your Online Reputation in Real TimeGoogle Launches Trusted Stores Program to Reward Online Retailers 
 | |||
| Do you have a business site? Submit your business related site FREE! | |||
| |||
Submit Your Article
Advertise
Newsletter
Comments
Customer Service
I am simply appalled with the standard of customer service I receive sometimes and it often results in my deciding not to do business with a particular company even if their product or service is good.
However, this $5 story reminded me of one of my own £5 story. While the item I purchased was not valued at $700 the implications I think you'll agree were priceless.
I once bought a loaf of bread and then noticed a strange object imbedded in it. It was copper wire. I attached the metal to a letter which I sent to the producers.
I received a letter back from the company but the tone of the letter bothered me. They said:
"How surprised you must have been..."
You may wonder what was wrong with that but I think that they should have been expressing their horror about the incident. I could have eaten the bread containing the wire.
There was a £5 voucher attached to the bread but seeing as the bread cost in excess of a pound plus the potential harm to self I thought that the £5 just added insult to injury.
I discarded it and have never bought bread from this company since.
RE: customer service
Customers are #1
Customers are # 1, without them we are out of business. We all make mistakes, it's human. When a business owner makes a mistake and irritates a customer it's time to swallow your pride and make things better, not matter what. Why would you not? If you don't, you might lose money. I heard a story about a business owner who made a mistake and then went to such lengths to correct it and "make it up to" the customer, that the customer told everyone about it. Almost like it was a heroic act. Customer service will either drive profits or losses, the result is up to you. www.kgc1.com/services.html
RE: customers are #1
customer is always right
The phrase the come to mind comes from my early days of being a salesman for a highend audio store.
"Make a customer happy they tell 5 people make a customer unhappy and they tell 10 people"
Happy customers multiply as do unhappy ones. This is one of the reasons we do business the way we do, pleasing the customer is a first priorty not only because it helps to grow our business but it is the right thing to do. Treat as you would want to be treated.
I'm going to play devils
I'm going to play devils advocate. I go out of my way to make customers happy, but there are still some who have no problem ripping you off, because since you are a business, you can afford it.
We had gotten to the point with one customer of sequentially numbering our items to her because, without fail, she would say there was something missing. Found out later that she did this because she ordered the wrong amount or someone came in after the order and added to it.
There are some people who, no matter what you do, are going to complain. You can jump through hoops to make them happy and they will still complain.
That customer service rep in the story should be fired. I would bet the Ikea management would not look too favorably on her behaviour. At the very least, someone from Ikea should have helped Mike look for the missing bag. Would have solved a bunch of problems.
Post new comment