I have seen people at IBM argue about whether we should give services for free on occasion. Very, very rarely have I seen it done, though. The feeling was always 'Well, we don't want to set a precedent!'
People are funny. In my business life, I have learned that the customer really isn't always right, and its okay to say "you know, we clearly cannot see eye to eye on this, so allow me to refund your money, shake hands, and write this off as a bad deal". Though the customer may be wrong, I won't compound the "wrongness" by being rude because that is wrong too. I have found that sometimes people want to find something wrong with your product when they experience buyer's remorse, and their loud exhortations can lose me more business than a pest control truck parked in my driveway could ever do! So I always make the break as easy as possible. Often, a little gift will smooth the transition remarkably. If I was selling ceramic salt shakers that I was making 600% profit on like Disney does, I would not hesitate to replace the item the kid dropped free of charge...even not considering the good will, but because at the very least, the parents could make my life and my employees lives miserable for awhile. And besides, you get a kid to smile, and that is worth the fifty cents worth of "shrinkage". I have a pile of "shopworn items" which I sell at the end of each day to people looking for a great deal, and they usually go home very very happy with their bargain. I even have a saying...there is no such thing as a defect, it is a "sales feature". In this day and age of "on line sales", we business people often command no more customer loyalty than the loyalty they would give to a local gas station. Customer service doesn't count as much as two cents per gallon or they would switch over to me because I wash their windows and check their oil. But they don't, which is why the "Texaco Minute Man" has died an unlamented death!
My pop ran a restaurant, and used to bring the cheque, with a little "how was the service" card and a nice wrapped candy...a higher end one like a Toblerone chocolate. He noted that the complaints were substantially reduced when he brought the candy. People like the little extras like that...the rest of the totally forgetable meal and mediocre service was lost in the realization that "hey, they got nice chockies don't they?" It kept 'em coming back.
Not to be too simplistic (though that's a neighborhood where I feel very comfortable), but if companies had your attitude, they'd do better in the questionable transactions. The solid you give me money/I give you what you wanted, those won't be affected. And the ones you describe -- do you know, its been YEARS since I heard the phrase 'a bad deal', but that says it to a T -- those won't be affected, either. But the ones where 'well, it was....okay' -- those are very much affected. And when the product being sold isn't quite as compelling as you (the seller) would like it to be, that atttude can nudge it over into the first category.
I've not read much about it, but I understand that theres a lot of psychology involved in how you handle customers. One thing that surprised me was that waiters who warn you off of a dish tend to get bigger tips. You think 'hey, this guy is on my side', and you feel warmly toward them and want to compensate them. Similarly, if the waiter says 'you know, you can get a better dessert right up the block, and you'll get a little stroll, too', the store loses that profit, but the image of the store is that of someplace where you can trust the people -- and so you like it a little more.
6 comments:
I like that too :)
I have seen people at IBM argue about whether we should give services for free on occasion. Very, very rarely have I seen it done, though. The feeling was always 'Well, we don't want to set a precedent!'
People are funny.
In my business life, I have learned that the customer really isn't always right, and its okay to say "you know, we clearly cannot see eye to eye on this, so allow me to refund your money, shake hands, and write this off as a bad deal". Though the customer may be wrong, I won't compound the "wrongness" by being rude because that is wrong too. I have found that sometimes people want to find something wrong with your product when they experience buyer's remorse, and their loud exhortations can lose me more business than a pest control truck parked in my driveway could ever do! So I always make the break as easy as possible. Often, a little gift will smooth the transition remarkably. If I was selling ceramic salt shakers that I was making 600% profit on like Disney does, I would not hesitate to replace the item the kid dropped free of charge...even not considering the good will, but because at the very least, the parents could make my life and my employees lives miserable for awhile. And besides, you get a kid to smile, and that is worth the fifty cents worth of "shrinkage". I have a pile of "shopworn items" which I sell at the end of each day to people looking for a great deal, and they usually go home very very happy with their bargain. I even have a saying...there is no such thing as a defect, it is a "sales feature".
In this day and age of "on line sales", we business people often command no more customer loyalty than the loyalty they would give to a local gas station. Customer service doesn't count as much as two cents per gallon or they would switch over to me because I wash their windows and check their oil. But they don't, which is why the "Texaco Minute Man" has died an unlamented death!
My pop ran a restaurant, and used to bring the cheque, with a little "how was the service" card and a nice wrapped candy...a higher end one like a Toblerone chocolate. He noted that the complaints were substantially reduced when he brought the candy. People like the little extras like that...the rest of the totally forgetable meal and mediocre service was lost in the realization that "hey, they got nice chockies don't they?" It kept 'em coming back.
People are funny....grin!
Not to be too simplistic (though that's a neighborhood where I feel very comfortable), but if companies had your attitude, they'd do better in the questionable transactions. The solid you give me money/I give you what you wanted, those won't be affected. And the ones you describe -- do you know, its been YEARS since I heard the phrase 'a bad deal', but that says it to a T -- those won't be affected, either. But the ones where 'well, it was....okay' -- those are very much affected. And when the product being sold isn't quite as compelling as you (the seller) would like it to be, that atttude can nudge it over into the first category.
I've not read much about it, but I understand that theres a lot of psychology involved in how you handle customers. One thing that surprised me was that waiters who warn you off of a dish tend to get bigger tips. You think 'hey, this guy is on my side', and you feel warmly toward them and want to compensate them. Similarly, if the waiter says 'you know, you can get a better dessert right up the block, and you'll get a little stroll, too', the store loses that profit, but the image of the store is that of someplace where you can trust the people -- and so you like it a little more.
My pop psych for the day....
Hey, bill...this made me think of your post here. We use this at my company for customer service training at the store level.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tDrmFolx2wc
That's a great story. Thanks for sharing!
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