Rude Customer Service Does Not Equal Sales!
Someone said that politeness isn’t all that’s cracked to be and that was because the person who said that was not polite. So, we tend to avoid that type of individual.
Rude Customer Service tends to do the same for customers.
We go to stores where we feel comfortable and appreciated. Even if we don’t end up spending a dime. Why is it that business owners have a hard time understanding this?
When I go to an organization, be it a retail store, a manufacturing, a service organization, or whatever other type of business it is, two things strike at me immediately after I enter the business, one is how clean the business is and the other is how friendly the organization is. Often, the business is sterile clean and any friendliness there could have been there is also wiped out. That’s usually enough to get me moving as quickly as I can to get out and to avoid dealing with such a business.
It is interesting that many business owners could care less about this and will go to great lengths to emphasize the fact of their rudeness. Interestingly enough, they are the ones typically spending thousands of dollars to attract customers, which they typically do, but aren’t able to translate all that traffic into sales.
Are you a rude business organization?
How easy is it to find out?
There are some very simple ways to do this.
One is to contact the customer who just finished doing business with you and asking.
You will be surprised how much you can find out when you ask the right question. Yes, ask at most two questions, or you will come across as another dreaded poll taker.
Another is to hire someone to do a secret shop for you. You don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get this done. Simply find a relative, friend, church member, who ever, that you trust, and ask them to go to your store and do a quick overview of their experience. For this, you would have a much more detailed list of items to be on the lookout for, and that should be enough to let you know how your business is perceived in the community.
Another way is to send out a survey to your existing customers and asking them to rate your business on a number of areas. Offer a small gift for anyone who returns those surveys.
Any one of these will be enough to provide you with information on how your business is being perceived by your customers.
Finally, make sure that you treat your employees as you wish they would treat your customers. The rude behavior an employee exhibits is nothing more than the behavior he or she copies from the manager above. GIGO is a computer acronym that stands for garbage in garbage out, so make sure that you are not filling the garbage can.
Remember, a customer who is treated with respect will value that enough to often overlook other issues.
Best wishes on your venture
— and finding out what would delight them to have you around, then do whatever it takes to fulfill their wishes. Dazzle them and they will reward you for a long time.