“Forever grateful for GREAT customers” Driving through Gympie’s city streets and reflecting on my years’ as a small business owner, makes me wonder why we do it!? With the number of closed store fronts in our area I am grateful for the continually increasing customer base I have. However, I also reflect (and stress) upon those few negative customers that somehow manage to sneak in and ruin the day; instead of putting my head in the sand - I will ‘tackle’ this one head on like a senior rugby player would. Those in business will be of the same mind, some people are becoming more demanding; and so I have to wonder is the stresses of being a business owner the reason why the “FOR LEASE” signs are now replacing store-front displays. It appears Ive upset somebody by being honest - by replying to a request ‘..it may take 2-3 weeks to complete their embroidery job..’ when in actual fact it could have taken a few days, if it wasnt for the overwhelming backlog of work sitting amongst our ankles and handling the daily telephone calls and in-store customers. Those who know me/us know we put 110% into our work - we will ALWAYS ‘under promise and over deliver’. Like any other business, spare a thought to what might happen ‘behind the scenes’ - it’s not like we sit around drinking coffee playing ‘candy crush’ on our computers - instead we are running around like ‘chooks with their heads cut off’ trying to complete an order that somebody wanted ‘done yesterday’ - but always managing to greet the next customer walking through the door with a welcoming smile. Our day could consist of many highs and lows - from somebody wanting a towel embroidered for a newborn, an employer wanting a shirt embroidered for a new employee, to a family wanting a shirt embroidered for a newly deceased family member about to be buried. These requests mean that sometimes ‘another’ job may take priority - but we will endeavor to do our utmost best to please everybody - for that I do not apologise. To us every job is important, whether it is one item, nine items or one thousand items - we treat everybody equally. Some delays may occur beyond our control. Sometimes it’s as little as receiving the brunt of somebody else having a ‘bad day’ - whilst we always try not to take it personally, instead we make it our mission to make that customer smile, the burden seems to come back to the business owner. Whilst it’s easy to tell myself that it’s hard to please everybody all of the time and to remain upbeat, everyday can be a real challenge when I too have a home to run and a family to keep. Owning a business is not a 9am to 4pm job and to keep the machines running during the day means the paperwork is left for after hours. The pressure of juggling home and business life, along with crunching the numbers to ensure this small business can keep its minimal staff, is not easy. Now weve all heard the saying “the customer is always right” - but where in the rule book does it say customers are allowed to be rude, demanding and plain ignorant..? Unrealistic expectations can result in unhappy outcomes. In saying all this, I can honestly say a ‘bad customer’ has been few and far between - it’s the good ones that have kept me going . . . and for that I am forever grateful. Samm
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 09:10:37 +0000
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