Are You Losing Customers And Don’t Know It?
I absolutely believe in supporting local businesses - especially small, independent and cool little restaurants.
My friend Bev and I like to check out a new place every couple of weeks - you never know what you’ll find!
Today we visited a new little eatery that I’ll never set foot in again.
Why?
Hmmm - well…we were the only diners in the restaurant and had to wait to get a glass of water (and then they brought it warm.)
The lunch order was totally bland and forgettable, the soup we ordered as a starter came after the entree (much later) and it was a tomato soup curdled disaster. Egad.
The owner was fumbling all over herself, apologizing a million times…but this pretty much explained why the diner wasn’t full and also why I’ll never go back.
It was a N0-G00d-Soup For You Moment!
So wait a second - could THIS be happening to your business?
- Are you following up sporadically?
- Do you over-promise and under-deliver (and KNOW it?)
- Are your products and services pretty blah and forgettable?
We all make mistakes from time to time - I get that.
However - if your sales are at the bottom of the soup pot - there is always a reason (and NO - you can’t blame everything on the economy either)
Soooo - don’t be lazy, don’t be bland, don’t forget about your customers who take time to contact you, don’t take it for granted that customers will keep walking through the door.
Too many “bad soup” experiences and your customer will move on and try someone new and different. And sometimes they will do it after only 1 CONTACT with you.
P.S. Which was EXACTLY what Bev and I did -we hit a new place immediately afterward and I had the most unbelievable banana-chocolate bread pudding - YUM!
This has helped me kick start my business again. My customer service and follow up has been lacking, no, it just hasn’t been anything. I just returned from my convention and I’m pumped up and want my business to be a success…again! Customers don’t always call you, in fact, rarely do they call. But then that’s where the follow up comes in and I should be doing it. My sales are at the bottom of the soup pot and now is the time to hone my customer service skills and follow up with my customers that I have contact with only through mailings and email. Thanks for the little push I needed.
Comment by Gail — August 6, 2008 @ 1:10 pm
Thanks Gail!
You can make follow-up fun for both you and the client - make sure you check out my Free Resources section for some ideas.
Good luck - you can do it! (and you’ll be surprised at how many clients have been waiting for the call so they can spend money with you)
Kim
Comment by kimduke — August 6, 2008 @ 1:18 pm