Be Nice. Say Thank You.
You’ve heard the analogy about the frog in hot water, right? If you put him in a pot of room temperature water and slowly turn it up, he’ll boil. But if you drop him in a pot of boiling water, he’ll jump out?
That’s me when it comes to poor service. Except someone recently cranked up the temperature too quickly, and all the sudden it’s more painful than usual.
A couple of days ago I was in a food court with my kids, and my conversation with the cashier went something like this:
Me: Do you have kids’ drinks?
Her: Yes, but they’re only available with a kid’s meal.
Me: Do you have milk? Or juice?
Her: No. Just these (holding up a kid-sized cup for the fountain drinks).
Me: Ok, that will do.
Her: You can only get one with a kid’s meal.
Me: But I’m not ordering a kid’s meal. I’m getting all of this (gesturing to a tray full of non-kid’s meal food).
Her: Sorry, the kid’s drink only comes with the kid’s meal.
Me: I’m happy to pay for it (in case she thought I wanted something for nothing).
Her: I don’t know how to ring that up.
You get the picture.
Common sense tells me that when the economy is in the toilet and business is slow, you should over-service the customers you do have instead of treating them worse than ever.
Here’s some simple advice for keeping your clients happy in good times and bad:
- Don’t say no. I could count on one hand the number of times I have given my clients a flat-out “no” over the past five years and still have fingers left over. Instead of no, try something like “That’s tricky, but here’s what I could do.”
- Stay flexible. Want your kid’s drink without the kid’s meal? No problem. Want your invoice sent on the 5th of the month instead of the 2nd? I can do that.
- Value. No matter what you’re providing or what the cost, when budgets are tight make sure your customer feels like they’re getting their money’s worth. And for heaven’s sake, say thank you.
