Editorial
For want of a button, the customer was
lost...
The pessimist rarely believes that one
person can change the world... unless it is for the worse. The
truth is, however, one person can have a huge impact on others
in both a negative and positive manner. It’s just
easier to remember the negative.
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When it comes to word-of-mouth
advertising, the most vocal customers affect your business at a
higher proportion. Unfortunately, the most vocal customers are
usually the angry ones. It may only take a missing button or a
stain that refuses to be removed... but on a bad day, that may
be all it takes to turn a loyal customer into an excessively
dissatisfied one. If that person becomes enraged enough, he or
she could initiate a chain reaction... begin a boycott of a
business by the person’s family and friends... publish a
web site called
“ihate(the-name-of-your-company.com)” that is
visited daily by potential customers... or, that person could
even start a saying that damages an entire industry for decades
to come. Do the words “taken to the cleaners” ring
a bell?
Oddly enough, the theories of the precise
etymology of that phrase vary, but many believe it was a
modernization of the old slang term “cleaned out,”
which referred to when a person loses something important (i.e.
money or a prized possession) as the result of a dishonest or
unethical practice. At some point in history, the phrase was
transformed because people were generally very unhappy and
untrusting with cleaning companies... for whatever reason. It
may have started with only one perturbed person, but those
words eventually became ingrained in the national lexicon.
Somehow, “taken to the corrupt political officials”
just never caught on.
But, there is a lesson to be learned in
all of this: take care of small problems before they become
bigger ones.
Some studies suggest that 26 unhappy
customers won’t complain for every one who will. Similar
statistics indicate that every unhappy customer tells an
average of 16 other people about their unhappy experience.
Though you might only hear one complaint, there could be well
over 400 people with a negative impression of your business
over one little problem. Suddenly, that little problem takes on
a larger scope.
First things first, you need to fix the
root of the problem. Is your counter help asking the customers
about the stains and appropriately marking them? Does your
equipment need maintenance? For the most part, the production
aspect of the problem is easier to contend with because
it’s usually something you can control to some degree.
Changing the actions of your employees is within your grasp
— you give them a paycheck every week, after all. But,
customers are another matter. They have other choices and they
don’t necessarily depend on you. Some may even feel that
they don’t need to be reasonable and understanding. They
just want to place their frustration onto someone else.
It’s enough to make you want to cut your losses and hope
the next customer is more amenable.
Just remember, over 90% of your unhappy
customers will never buy from you again; yet, if you strive to
create a rapport with those who complained and you work with
them to solve the problem, over 80% will keep doing business
with you. We all know that it costs five times more to attract
a new customer than to keep an old one.
Diplomacy is the key. Try not to be
defensive and treat them as you wish you would be treated in
the same situation. Do not be afraid to admit it if you made a
mistake. If you want to salvage your relationship with an
unhappy customer, you need to find out exactly what happened
and what the customer wanted to have happened, then try to work
constructively toward a mutually amicable solution. This may be
easier said than done, but you should keep in mind one more
thing: your business started with a single customer.
Sometimes one person really can make a
difference.
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