The other day, I had to fill my car with gas. I swiped my card, and it told me that there was a problem and to go see the cashier. I go in, and handed him my card and said I’d like to fill it up. He looked at me strange, and then I explained that the machine told me to come to the cashier. He acknowledges this, takes my card, hands it back and says, “Go try it now. It should work.” Befuddled and amazed I stood there for probably longer than I should have, and then said, “Are you serious?” Of course, now, I’m the jerk customer. He replied, ‘Yeah, it should work now. You’re all set”. He was right, but that’s not the point.
Today, my wife and I were trying to plan a trip to New Orleans. We were trying to use our milage points. We were having trouble, so my wife calls Delta. They look in the computer and say, “Oh, I see the problem. OK, I fixed it. It should work now”. It did work, but that’s not the point.
I am using these real life examples to show you how bad customer service often is. But, the good news is, as a small business, you can totally smoke these larger firms by not doing this. When your clients call you with a problem, you don’t fix it on your side and then send them off to complete the transaction. Fix the whole thing so it’s effortless to your clients. The fact that they had to call you is telling you that you had a glitch in the system or process. Make it right by fixing the problem, completing the transaction for them, ask them if there is anything else you can do, and view it as an opportunity to make deeper connections with your clients.
And, don’t forget to look into why this might have happened, and ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Jerry Frazier
Los Angeles Wedding Photographer
http://www.jerryfrazierphotography.com
Tags: Jerry Frazier Photography, Los Angeles Wedding Photography, Orange County Wedding Photography
