NFIB

Your Best Marketers: Satisfied Customers
08/ 19/ 2002

by Charles R. McConnell

Do you know me? The few times I visited your establishment I didn't feel welcome, and my experiences werenÆt too pleasant. Once, as the only customer on the premises, I waited several minutes while the person at the desk took her time completing what was obviously a personal telephone call. Another time I felt like your salesperson was sullen and unfriendly, seeming not the least bit interested in whether I got what I came for. Yet another time I had to wait more than a half-hour for a small exchange.

If you don't know me, perhaps you should. I'm the customer who has formed a negative impression of your business. But itÆs probably not likely that you know me, because I don't complain directly to you. I simply don't come back. I take my business elsewhere, and I tell others of my experiences.

A businessÆs best marketers are satisfied customers who will tell others about their positive experiences. But dissatisfied customers are much more likely to talk. A businessÆs greatest detractors are invariably those whose experiences were unsatisfactory. They don't come back, and they tell others.

A man serving as his own general contractor for some renovation work used the services of a disposal firm for the rental of a dumpster. He paid upfront as required. He asked if there would be any additional costs and was told there would not be, unless the container was loaded above the level of the walls. When the container was picked up the user had made certain the material was not piled higher than the required level.

A few days later the man received a bill for an additional $175. When he called the supplier, he was advised that they charged by weight as well, and that he went well over the weight threshold. The renter thought he shouldnÆt have to pay the bill, pointing out that nowhere on their original invoice or in their advertising was there any mention of this. The company could have chosen a compromise that might have led to resolution with a minimum of ill feeling, but the company representative responded with a threat to the renterÆs credit rating if the bill was not paid in full immediately. The renter paid under protest, sending his written objections to the proprietors. His letter was never acknowledged.

The immediate result was that two additional dumpster rentals went to another firm, and the unhappy customer has since been urging friends and others to go elsewhere for their container needs.

The philosophy of total quality management (TQM) stresses the need for the business organization to be customer driven. Businesses must of course be profit driven, but the most effective way of addressing business success and ensuring profits is to become customer driven.

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