SMART MARKETING: Some Days, You Just Can't Win

No matter what resources you throw at a problem, no matter how much you invest in customer satisfaction, no matter what you do or say, there are some customers you just can’t satisfy.

It doesn’t matter if you have 100 customers or 1 million, a certain (hopefully small) percentage of those folks are just going to drive you crazy. And while the instinct is to tell them to take their business elsewhere, let me suggest that these folks are the customers you should do everything in your power to please.

WHO IS YOUR BEST CUSTOMER? When you’re in a recurring revenue service business, the best customer is not the next new one but the one you’ve got. You’ve made the sale. You’ve eliminated the competition. The only way you can lose this customer is to fail to meet his/her expectations. And the only way you really can do that is to either deliver something less than great service or to say or do something that ticks them off.

Dealing with the problem customer is much more about art than about science, even in our science-driven business. It’s about looking, acting and sounding better than the rest. It’s about honesty, integrity, admitting when you made a mistake and fixing it. And sometimes, it’s about letting the upset customer vent to you and then turning them back into a raving fan of you and your business.

I’m guessing we all have customers who call whenever they see an ant…even one outside of their home! I’m also guessing we have folks who run us ragged over flying insects when we don’t even provide flying insect service! I’m reminded of the apocryphal tale of Nordstrom’s, the legendary customer service department store, who took back a set of defective tires from a customer, even though they don’t sell tires! The idea is to do what it takes to take care of the customer.

So how do we win over these wonderful folks? We love ’em till they smile back at us. We smile when they yell at us and we promise to do everything we can to make them happy. We remain polite. We listen attentively so we can learn what’s really bothering them. We commiserate. We understand. We do everything in our power to fix whatever is broken, even if, to be blunt, nothing needs fixing.

Most of all, we remember that these are the people who pay the bills. Just like the happy, always pleasant, friendly folks who make it all worthwhile, these ladies and gentlemen deserve our best every single day, and sometimes they deserve even more.

A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW. I look at these cases philosophically. I can reflect their sometimes abusive tone, springing back to my streets of Brooklyn upbringing and let ’em have it, right between the eyes. What does that get me? A cancelled customer and about a dozen lousy references. Nothing at all good. Or, I can tell myself that this poor soul is having a really bad day and I’m going to do everything I can to make it better. I’m going to listen, hear what he/she has to say, and I’m going to cheerfully (OK, maybe not) do everything in my power and ability to turn them into a smiling, happy person again (if, in fact they ever were).

When that happens, I feel absolutely terrific and I realize that I’ve made a positive difference in some-one’s day. When it doesn’t, well, some days you just can’t win!

The author is senior vice president of Massey-Persons-Brinati Communications, a subsidiary of Massey Services Inc., Maitland, Fla. He can be reached via e-mail at bbrewer@pctonline.com.