Some stores just don't get it

A few days ago my wife and I went to a local store to buy some items.  We found what we were looking for and went to the counter to pay for our purchases.  The clerk took my check for $240.00 and ran it through their approval system.  In a moment her machine spit out a ticket that said the check was for too much money.  She called a manager who said she seemed to remember something that said they couldn't take a check for more than $200.00.  At that point we picked up our check off the counter and walked out of the store tearing up the check as we left.  I told the manager that was one of the dumbest policies I had ever heard of and she responded that it wasn't their fault.  We went to another store in the same shopping center and purchased the items we wanted, and for less money.

When I came home I sent an e-mail to the company's main office describing our experience.  I told them what I told the manager, that was a dumb policy.  At a time when retail stores need to find ways to attract customers and make their buying easier and more enjoyable, this company decided to make it difficult for their customers to do business with them.  Not surprisingly, nearly a week later the company has not responded to my complaint.

Like many retail stores, this company spends a lot of money on advertising, and many of their products have been marked down to sell.  Why bother?  Why spend the money to get people into the store when store policies make it difficult for them to give the company their money?

Maybe I'm just more sensitive to this problem because when I had a business many of our policies weren't particularly consumer-friendly.  In fact, I included an entire chapter about that mistake in my book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.  Our hours were for the convenience of our employees, not our customers.  For many years we continued the practice of previous owners in not offering credit card options for payment.  We did not offer a wide enough selection of products from which our customers could choose.  The book covers these issues and others. 

I learned from those mistakes, but many small businesses still have not.  The store that had a limit on the size of check is one of a small chain that is unlikely to get much bigger if they do not change their policies and become more consumer-friendly.  And to be so arrogant as to not even respond back to a complaint from a customer is an even greater mistake than the check limit.

How long has it been since you've reviewed your customer service policies?  Do they make it easier for your customers to do business with your company or harder?  Are they easily understood by both employee and customers alike?  How do you view customer complaints?  Are they recognized as being the potential benefit to your company that they are, or are they a nuisance that wastes valuable time?  Does your company have a policy that requires that every complaint be answered within 24 hours?

This extended recession has helped close the doors of many small businesses.  In my opinion, if and when this recession ever ends, small businesses will continue to struggle to be profitable.  The ones who succeed will be the ones that have made it easy for people to do business with them.  Those that struggle, and perhaps eventually close, will point their fingers at any number of problems, but most of those fingers won't be pointing at their own store policies that doomed their businesses.  These will be the stores that just never understood the importance of customer service.  They just never got it.

The right mindset for a small business owner

I recently finished a powerful book written by Rabbi Daniel Lapin called Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money.  Lapin is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who has spent many years studying the qualities that have made Jewish people excel in business, and he has written this book to make these principles available to everyone regardless of their faith tradition.  As a Christian minister I found his insights into some of the Old Testament texts illuminating, and as a business person I found his application of those texts inspiring. 

Thanks to recent events business owners and successful people have often been painted as greedy, dishonest people who cheat and lie to rob poor people of their possessions.  Watch almost any program on television, any movie that depicts business owners, or watch the national news and see how many times business people are portrayed in that light.  The idea of an honorable wealthy business person is foreign to most people's thinking.  This false mindset of business people has even made some successful people feel guilty for their success.

Lapin writes that every dollar that is earned is a "certificate of appreciation" from one's customers.  This is true whether one works on a factory assembly line, owns a small mom-and-pop business on main street in a small town, or is a CEO of a large multi-national organization.  Everyone who earns a living has a customer, and the money that is earned is the result of satisfying that customer.  Lapin writes, "If you did not rob or steal from anyone to obtain that dollar, if you neither defrauded anyone nor persuaded your government to seize it from a fellow citizen and give it to you, then you could only have obtained that dollar in one other way - you must have pleased someone else."  There is nothing shameful about that nor is there any reason to feel guilty because you have become successful.

This is the mindset we need to instill in people, not the negative ones that attempt to demean business leaders and other wealthy individuals.  You need to understand this blog is not written by a wealthy person.  I am the typical middle-class American who has worked hard all his life to join the middle class, but I appreciate wealthy businesspeople.  No poor person ever gave me a job that allowed me to provide for my family.   When we seek gifts for charities and other worthwhile endeavors do we ask the poor or the wealthy for those funds?  Studies find that the wealthy give vast sums of money to charities, their churches, and other worthwhile needs.  Business owners give to their communities, to their churches, to other endeavors.  They provide employment that allows people to earn an honest living and support their families.  They provide goods and services that people need.  Lapin assures us there is dignity in business for all these reasons and more.

The book provides 10 commandments for making money, but it is not a "get rich quick" book.  It explores centuries of the Jewish mindset regarding money and business based upon teachings from the Bible and the "Oral Torah."  Lapin writes, "Deep within traditional Jewish culture lies the conviction that the only real way to achieve wealth is to attend diligently to the needs of others and to conduct oneself in an honorable and trustworthy fashion."  The 10 commandments found in the book help flesh out aspects of that conviction.

I appreciated the book and recommend it for several reasons.  One, it reminds the reader that honest businesspeople should be honored and respected for their contributions to our society.  Secondly, it gives interesting insights into Jewish beliefs and customs, and, thirdly, it presents some foundational concepts that one needs to believe in if he or she is to enjoy financial success.

Firing customers

Image courtesy of  FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I owned our heating and air conditioning business we had a customer who owned a number of rental properties.  He had used our business even before I took it over, but he often complained about our work and especially our prices.  Nearly every bill he received sent him into orbit.  One day he came into our office yelling at our office administrator about the bill he received and promising to never do business with us again.  When I went to the office later she was still upset.  I explained that I hated to lose a long time customer too, but we would probably be better off without the drama his business always created.

A few weeks later I answered the phone, and it was him calling about an apartment that needed the HVAC repaired.  I reminded him of his outburst the last time we did work for him and told him I was under the impression he was not going to use our company any more.  He gave a nervous chuckle and responded that since he had used us for so long there wasn't any sense in calling another company now.  I thanked him for that but then explained, "We will be glad to do business with you, but we will not tolerate any more outbursts like the last one.  We have always been fair with our pricing to you and always will.  If you have a question about a bill you receive from us, please call me about it, and as long as you are reasonable in the conversation then I will be glad to talk with you.  If you get out of control like I heard you did the last time I will hang up and we will never do another job for you.  Are these conditions acceptable?"  He said they were; we did the work he asked us to do, and he never again complained about any of our work or our bills.

Running a small business is tough enough without having to deal with unreasonable people.  I gave him a second chance only because he had been such a long-term customer.  There were others we simply refused to do any further work for after our first encounter with them.  Their expectations were unreasonable and their attitudes were toxic.  Trying to collect the money they owed us was often a challenge.  They were exactly the kind of customers we were glad to see our competitors have.

When someone is starting out they are afraid to turn away any business.  That is understandable, but it's not healthy for you or for your company.  Such clients will often cost you more time and money than what their business is worth, and they will stop doing business with you if they can save a nickle by patronizing your competitor.  If you find someone consistently complains about your product or service, wants you to lower your prices, and expects you to provide him or her with priority service over all your other clients you have a customer that you probably need to fire.   Chances are you'll see little difference in your company's bottom line at the end of the year, and you'll find that operating your business is a lot more enjoyable once the're gone.  For more about the dangers of being too loyal to the wrong customers be sure to read my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.