This post is by Michael Pollock, the original owner of Small Business Branding. Yaro Starak now owns and produces the latest content for this blog.
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Something happened at work today that has me baffled. A guy who bought an RV from me a couple of years ago came back to trade it in for a newer one. What baffles me about that is WHY he did so. See, after he bought the first one, he had several problems that, despite my very best efforts, weren’t handled to his satisfaction.
I can remember at one point he threatened to get attorneys involved unless his problems were addressed and handled as they should have been. In my opinion, they never quite were, and I’d suspect he felt the same. Still, no attorneys were ever involved, and here he is today acting like we’re old friends. Weird.
When his problems arose, some within the dealership argued that he was too demanding. It was a 10 year old trailer he purchased after all, and if he wanted no problems he should have purchased a new unit. They argued that he was impatient when necessary parts were on back-order and unavailable for months. When he threatened to call his attorney, they just said "do what you have to do." I can find the place of agreement with all that, but you still have to wonder if we could have gone farther to satisfy this customer.
Needless to say, this customer’s experience was far from acceptable to him, and he made that very well known to me and the people for whom I work. I was sure I’d never see him again, let alone have him show up today saying: "Hey Michael, we’d like to upgrade to a newer camper. What have you got for us?"
I guess I could have asked him what made him come back to us after all that. But you sort of want to avoid drudging up stuff like that, especially when you’re not completely sure your company did all they could have done to handle the situation better.
I still wonder about the whole thing. I guess I come from the philosophy that says "the customer is always right." Although I have seen times where that philosophy is just way too unrealistic, just as some customers can be unrealistic. But where do you draw that line? Do we cut off a demanding customer when we believe in our heart of hearts we’ve given enough? Or do we set no boundaries on keeping a customer satisfied?
I’m guessing there’s not one right answer here, but I’d love any thoughts you might have.
In the case of this customer, perhaps he came back because, despite his sub-par experience, we’re still the best he has available to him. Or we’re the closest. Or I – personally – handled him respectfully and sympathetically. I’m really not sure, but I think I’ll ask him the next time I see him.
I can understand your wondering on this man’s coming back to you, even though he complained about the product and service you provided. In my experience as a retailer for 30 years, I believe that some people will try and push you to see what lengths you will go to to satisfy them. This does not mean that you do not provide good service or are wrong, but they are trying, as ‘savvy consumers’, to get as much as they can for their dollar. Are they worth keeping as customers? It’s hard to gauge much of the time. In this instance, it may have been worth it, as he came back to purchase again. I have had some customers that are so high maintenence compared to what they purchase that I have politely told them to shop elsewhere. Do you know what happened? In some cases they actually became good customers who were much more reasonable to deal with. You have to establish your right to be respected as well in these cases. I firmly believe that the customer is right- most of the time. You have to bend and admit mistakes and do everything to correct them. However, there reaches a point where the return on the investment in a particular customer is not worth it. You have to be able to know when to cut your losses, especially if the customer is consistantly abusive, rude and disruptive to your staff and business. Some people view those of us in the retail sector as easy targets to bully, because they have been taught that ‘they are always right’. We don’t put up with it anymore in our chilren’s schools, so why should we have to tolerate it in our adult lives?