TAKE A STAND ON CUSTOMER SERVICE

by John Shepherd, Adams Entrepreneurial Fellow

Sometimes customers have expectations that are impossibly difficult or that cannot be realistically met. In my lawn care and landscaping business, rain and wet weather slows down our work. Standing water can cause power surges and endanger the crew and bulldozers just do not work in three feet of mud. There are still customers who expect us to work on the project.

When dealing with these types of customers what should business owners and managers do? EO the Entrepreneurs Organization (eonetwork.org) lists these six steps to follow when dealing with an unhappy customer:
1. Listen carefully to what the customer has to say, and let them finish.
2. Ask questions in a caring and concerned manner.
3. Put yourself in their shoes.
4. Apologize without blaming.
5. Ask the customer, "What would be an acceptable solution to you?"
6. Solve the problem, or find someone who can solve it— quickly!

Sometimes the best solution is to cut your losses and fire the customer. Sounds crazy, but it can actually save money. Problematic customers can take up so much time that we give less attention to our happy customers and run the risk of multiplying the problem. If the customer requires more time, effort, or service than ever intended - it is time to take a stand.

In her blog for Fast Company, Customer Evangelist Lynette Chaing shared a letter she received that fired her as a customer.

Dear Lynette, I'm really sorry we haven't been able to meet your needs. We're a small company and though we are pretty good at doing custom orders, there is only so much we can do with our limited resources. We're refunding your deposit, because we believe in under-promising and over-delivering, and we can't promise we can make you happy. We hope you understand. Sincerely ...

The vendor acted swiftly, and Lynette responded by doing business with them again. That's a positive outcome.