How NOT to Market Your Business Pt 2

Written by Dean R Black on Jul 8, 2011 6:21 am

Hello everyone I hope you are doing well.

Yesterday, Dean and I wrote about our experience with the management at a local restaurant. Today, I'd like to follow up with you about what happened after we left the restaurant.

When we got home, I decided to do a little experiment and respond to their online customer satisfaction survey. They asked the standard questions about our experience and I gave them very good marks on the food, atmosphere and service, but neutral marks on everything else including my overall satisfaction and how likely I would be to recommend them to a friend. In the comment section, I briefly explained our experience with the promotion. At the end of the survey, they noted that my marks were not very high and could they contact me to resolve the issue. I agreed and gave them both my email address and cell phone number.

The next morning there was an email in my inbox from the owner of the restaurant. I was impressed with the speed of her response, but the positive experience ended right there. She wrote me a lengthy email explaining the fine print of the promotion and why I didn't qualify. She suggested we come back again for another meal in July so we could qualify for the promotion.

What struck me hardest and irritated me the most was that she didn't even pretend like she cared about my problem. Even now I don't think she has the slightest clue why I'm unhappy. She saw my comment and immediately decided that my problem was that I didn't understand the rules and if she could just explain them to me then all would be well. Little does she know me.

You've probably figured out by now that my problem was that no one in the management of the restaurant would listen to what I had to say, take an interest in my problem and work with me to figure out how to solve it.

This experience has reminded me of some important principles about how to run your business:

1) Once you make up your mind that you already have an answer, you stop looking for one. Whether you're right or wrong becomes irrelevant because you already "know".

2) Be consistent. If you say one thing and do something else, people will always believe what you do. This lady said she valued my business and wanted me to come back but she certainly didn't act like it.

3) When you're not consistent, you're being dishonest somewhere - either in your words or in your actions. Either way, where I come from a lie is a lie is a lie.

4) If you offer value up front - and you always should - deliver on what you promise. The restaurant offered great value to me then snatched it away at the last minute. Bad move.

5) If you listen to your customers, they'll tell you exactly what you need to do. You won't have to guess. Just listen, ask questions and be curious. This business owner didn't ask me a single question or express the slightest genuine concern for my problem.

6)Don't put yourself in an adversarial position with a customer. This one should be obvious, but apparently not to everyone. You won't win.

7) Don't underestimate the future, long term value of a customer. The way I see it, she traded years of business and hundreds or even thousands of dollars in future revenue for a dispute totaling $25.

The bottom line is that most customers who are unhappy just leave. You never hear from them again and you will most likely never get the chance to win them back. So pay attention to what their telling you and don't blow it the first time.

I hope that was helpful.

Thank you for tuning in.

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To Your Success,
Mary & Dean R Black
Attraction Marketing Coach
http://www.deanrblack.com