A word of sanity A word of warning to all those out there that sell to the public, never In recent history has there been times like these, times are tough, and probably going to get tougher. Now, and for the forseeable future, people who own their own business need to tread carefully. Going down the pan is now something that could happen to anyone, very easily. Time for a change in attitude, the good times are gone, people are not just looking for the cheapest (and they are looking harder than ever) they are looking for something I think we have sidelined a bit due to the good times financially, they are looking for good service. Businesses need to go the extra mile these days, return every call, ensure deliveries are on time and correct. Yes the general public can be a pain in the a** sometimes, but as long as you keep your end of the bargain then it will be rare that you have an a** on the end of the phone, when you do it's time to swallow your pride and go that extra bit to make them happy, that's not to say be a walkover. Far from it, you can discuss the problem and work out if it is a genuine complaint or if the caller is just trying to swing it. If its a problem and it's genuine and it's not going to cost you a great deal then apologise and put it right, if they are trying to swing it, explain your point of view politely and clearly in a way that leaves them knowing you are on to them without saying it. NEVER get abusive on the phone! Once you do that you lose. No matter how right you are,when you start bad mouthing, you lose the dispute. If they bad mouth you then say that this discussion is over unless they calm down, tell them you will put the phone down if they keep up the abuse, then they have a warning and know if they really wish to sort out the problem they have to stop. If they keep it up say goodbye sir before hanging up, they know they have lost then, never just hang up, it just inflames the situation and will probably get a reaction of som sorts. I have found that doing that little bit extra and not putting it on the bill, or getting a call back on a job only to find it's the customers stupidity or something else that's causing the problem and saying "it's all part of the service sir, no charge" or finishing up and leaving the place cleaner than when you got there, gets the customers repeated business, it's not about today anymore, you got to see further than the job in hand. Do an exceptional job today and you are guaranteed future work with that customer, and probably his friends too, I have had a lot of my competitors clients switch to me in the past year because they can only see what they can earn today, not the long haul. I have concentrated on customer service the past year and not profit and it is paying off, ten fold. Greed is NOT good. It's SHORT TERM!!! Jus my 2 bobs worth
