Marketing for Solopreneurs

The Little Things: A Customer Service Story

I’m a fan of John Cleese and his old sitcom Fawlty Towers. It is the story of a crazy English innkeeper, his sarcastic wife and their bumbling staff. Basil Fawlty was always kissing up to his guests but, due to hilarious mishaps, could never quite live up to the superior customer service he wanted desperately to be known for.

Keeping customers happy in a service industry can be challenging But last weekend I had an amazing experience at a tiny, don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it restaurant on the Pacific coast of Washington. It was my in-laws’ favorite restaurant and it was the first time back there since my wife’s mom passed away.

I don’t know. It might have had something to do with the server being new. But I like to think that she just cared about her customers. Not long after she delivered our plates of food, we became quiet and a little sad, remembering all the other, happier, times we had been there. Seeing our unhappy faces—particularly my father-in-law’s— and hearing us whisper, she must have thought that something was wrong with the food.

She asked my father-in-law, “Is something wrong with your steak?” He frowned and said, “No, it’s good.” She asked, “Are you sure?” He said, “Why, yes. It’s nice and rare, just the way I ordered it.”

Five minutes later, the owner was at our table. “I’m hearing that maybe your steak was overcooked?” he said. “ I’d like to fix that for you.”

My father-in-law looked confused, but insisted again that his steak was fine.

It was looking more and more like a Fawlty Towers episode. Finally, my wife stepped in and explained that it was the loss of her mother we were all feeling and it had nothing to do with the food, which was, as always, wonderful. The owner must have wondered what to say. He could say he was glad we were happy with our food, but then we might think he didn’t care about the death in the family.

After an awkward pause, he found just the right words to say, then stuck around to chat a few minutes. Do I have a point here? Yes. That one small business owner went out of his way to make sure his customers were completely satisfied. It paid off. We ended up talking about the experience all the way home.

Thoughts on Giving

Yesterday I was working away at my computer, juggling two design jobs: a logo and a chamber of commerce directory cover. And it occurred to me: I was spending a good part of a day on pro bono jobs. The free services we provide for nonprofits can add up. Seems at any one time we are doing at least one pro bono project. Someone told me once I should stand in front of a mirror, pucker my lips, and practice saying "no". But there are just too many good causes out there.

The one thing I do feel strongly about is that if I offer to do something at no cost, I should treat it like any other project. That means scheduling rough and final draft deadlines—and meeting them. While it’s tempting to put those projects on the back burner, I have made a commitment and that organization, as appreciative they may be, needs their stuff on time, too.

Do I always practice what I preach? Most of the times, yes. But if I am swamped with huge projects, I occasionally find myself letting the "freebies" slide a little. Shame on me!

It’s About Respect: Thoughts on Customer Service

I tend to be one of those people who like to recognize outstanding customer service when I happen to be on the receiving end. I feel that it’s good for the employee and it’s helpful for managers to know. When it happens, I send a short e-mail, or write a letter, or pick up the phone.

When I am treated poorly, I also feel that is helpful information for a manager or owner.
At the end of November ’07, I purchased at set of Internet marketing-related DVDs from a very large, well-known information publishing firm. It was not my first purchase; I had also attended one of their copywriting conferences and taken a year-long marketing course from them.

The DVDs were priced at $149.95 and I was told that I had locked in “the very lowest price” by making my purchase when I did. I received my package in early December. Just ten days later, I opened an e-mail from this company’s internet marketing director, who offered me the exact same set of DVDs for $79.95. They were having a “Customer Appreciation” sale.

I wrote a letter mostly out of curiosity: why would someone pitch a “lowest price” offer and then send the same customer a second offer for the same product she just purchased, but this time at half the price? (It seemed to me that if it really wasn’t a “locked in-lowest price” deal, they would want to at least segment their lists so the $149.95 customers did not receive the second, lower-priced offer.)

In my letter, I asked for a $70 refund, just to see what they would say. I waited a month and got no response , so I visited the help desk on their website and copied and pasted in the same letter I had sent by U.S. mail. A week later I received an e-mail reply:

Dear Valued Customer, [not!]

Reviewing your account we see that you purchased the tapes on November 26, 2007.
We are not able to refund you the difference of the product as it was for a December end of the year special.

I hope that I have addressed all of your questions and concerns. If you should have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.

Respectfully,

Company XYZ Customer Service

Now, mind you, this was a company I had already purchased more than $3,000 of products and services from. But the e-mail response was robotic in tone and did not address any of my concerns.

I think there are several marketing lessons here:

1. Keep your lists separate. A firm has every right to discount their product as much as they want, but at least segment your lists and don’t pitch a product to a customer who has just paid twice that amount for it.

2. Be honest. Don’t sell a “lowest price, locked in” offer that is blatantly untrue.

3. If you receive a “snail mail” letter of complaint, answer it. Anyone who has taken the time to compose a letter, address an envelope, lick a stamp and find a mail drop is very unhappy and deserves a reply.

4. It is in your best interests to keep your most loyal customers happy. I had already spent $3,000 and likely would have down the road been worth thousands more through additional “back end” sales. But I will never do business with this company again. Was it worth it to them just to save the $70 refund I requested?

As a manager, how would you have responded? Do you look at the long-term value of the customer when you make refund decisions?