Comments on GUYANA: Business as usual?

@kfm, tap on the wrist while You too bad!

2008-10-21T23:25:36.163-04:00

@kfm, *tap on the wrist while* You too bad!

definetly business as usual

2008-10-21T15:43:07.794-04:00

definetly business as usual

Kfm, you one bad customa, hahahaha. Dat was wicked...

2008-10-20T14:50:40.174-04:00

Kfm, you one bad customa, hahahaha. Dat was wicked.

Mr. Nighttime! Abusive? Cussing? In all the years my mother has done biz [over 30-something], she's never had anyone abuse, cuss and carry on badly...hm, we must be nicer people here than we realise. Or people know instinctively not to mess with a mother like mine. Want to borrow her? :-D

It's true, Sab, I think service people are getting worse, like good manners are going out of style.

Camille!!!! Thanks for the encouragement, girl. I wrote you LONG email weeks ago and you didn't reply :-(

Ohhh Stolid, tut tut tut.

hehehe....but she right.....i get re-venge big tim...

2008-10-20T09:39:52.960-04:00

hehehe....but she right.....i get re-venge big time de odda day...i went into wan store...dem get me waiting, waiting, serve odda people...i say ok...i put wan bunch of tings in de cart...plenty plenty....mussi worth couple tousands of dallahs...go bak, dem hurry ova to me...an den i say...nah i waited too long...i have to go now. bye...an leff..hehehehehee

"Mr. Nighttime, I just told her what you said. She...

2008-10-18T13:49:39.466-04:00

"Mr. Nighttime, I just told her what you said. She [always generous in trying to help others] said [nodding, with amused, tolerant expression] to tell you she knows that, that there are some customers who can behave dreadfully."

Yes indeed. I worked retail for some years, and work in customer service/technical support now while I build my own freelance writing business, so I know exactly how nice/horrid certain customers can be.

"But if you're running a business, sometimes you have to put up with a lot of nonsense for the sake of your business. She said that if you allow yourself to get riled, another customer can overhear you and think that that is how you behave on a regular basis, and you can lose that other customer too."

Well, it is somewhat of a different situation when you are in an open shop than dealing with customers over the phone like I do. (Added to the fact that I telecommute, so the only person that hears me talk to the customer is Mrs. Nighttime.)

"Also, there is a chance that you can pacify the other customer, help him or her, and through that gain tons more business."

Oh yes, I have been able to do that. I have turned people around that were so pissed off, that by the time I finished with them, they were practically kissing my feet. ;-)

On the other hand, there is a line in the sand that I have, and if you cross that line, (cursing at me, calling me names, turning it into something personal) I will not only hang up on you, but report you to my upper supervisors. I'll give my company credit for one thing: abusive customers are not tolerated, and they have cut people off of service for being repeatedly abusive.

The lessons I have learned in working retail/tech support I will take into my own business. The one thing that has stuck with me is that, while you always need to do your best for your customers, you should not allow yourself to be treated like a doormat for the sake of the money either. Better to lose a very difficult customer, than to put up with them. It is your best customers that give you repeat business that will stand up for you. If you have a 98-99% satisfaction rate, it will overshadow the negative ones. (I never say 100%, as while this is a laudable goal, it is not always obtainable.) Cherish and develop your good customers so that they drown out the whining of the bad ones.

Also, just as your customers have expectations of you, you should have expectations of them, to act in just an adult manner as they expect from you.

Since I grew up in a 'shop family' and was roped i...

2008-10-17T10:48:28.811-04:00

Since I grew up in a 'shop family' and was roped in to help serve customers from the age of 12, my mum stressed the rule that the customer is always right but from experience I learned that this wasn't literally true. It just meant you had to be polite to customers - even when they were wrong - and if you met rudeness by being even more rude it wasn't good for business. On the other hand, you couldn't let really nasty people walk all over you. Nowadays people who work in shops don't often show as much consideration for their customers. They continue chatting and leave you waiting, for example, and couldn't care less if you walk away in disgust.

Hi Me LuvYou writing STILL strong and yes...de cus...

2008-10-16T19:19:05.463-04:00

Hi Me Luv

You writing STILL strong and yes...de customer have options and dem ALWAYS right especially when de manager WRONG.

Hahaha..Business man sound like me.

2008-10-16T17:27:41.053-04:00

Hahaha..Business man sound like me.

Pat, I thought of your business when I wrote this....

2008-10-16T17:12:24.493-04:00

Pat, I thought of your business when I wrote this. Oh yes, my mum said she met some bad behaving customers but, in her reply [above] to Mr. Nighttime, she said she had to find ways to deal with them. I discovered quite a bit about bad 'customers' while writing ad campaigns and presenting them too.

Stephen, I argue with my mother all the time...but then, I tell her it's her fault, she gave me her genes, haha.

Well GG I'm just torn in two. I'd ALWAYS be on yo...

2008-10-16T15:15:36.911-04:00

Well GG I'm just torn in two. I'd ALWAYS be on your mother's side but when I had my own business one saw that the general public were capable of behaving badly, as I'm sure your mother found herself. It's a difficult row to hoe but we tried always to treat customers with courtesy unless I considered they overstepped the mark. I think I would have done exactly what Mum did. How else are they ever going to learn:)

lol! Smart man. You don't try and argue with a m...

2008-10-16T14:55:28.865-04:00

lol! Smart man. You don't try and argue with a mother. I know I wouldn't. Plus, I would probably offer her something free if I had a store.

Mr. Nighttime, I just told her what you said. She ...

2008-10-16T09:29:10.827-04:00

Mr. Nighttime, I just told her what you said. She [always generous in trying to help others] said [nodding, with amused, tolerant expression] to tell you she knows that, that there are some customers who can behave dreadfully. But if you're running a business, sometimes you have to put up with a lot of nonsense for the sake of your business. She said that if you allow yourself to get riled, another customer can overhear you and think that that is how you behave on a regular basis, and you can lose that other customer too. Also, there is a chance that you can pacify the other customer, help him or her, and through that gain tons more business. In other words, you treat the customer AS IF he / she is right. She said that when she had a customer who was exceedingly difficult and didn't want to listen, she'd pass him / her on to one of the employees to deal with him / her. The store she and my father had was very successful...I think I will get her to tell me all her tips and I will post them here. I followed her advise instinctively when I was in advertising and that is how I got through to difficult clients.

Ohhh yes, Olivia, ESPECIALLY in tough times like these.

Cadiz, the thing is, it's just sleek hair who's rude, he doesn't even OWN the business. I think we should tell his employer who happens to be a nice fella.

John, just what Mr. Nighttime said! Business sure is hard to do.

"She pause to get the timing just right. “Haven’t ...

2008-10-16T02:39:04.062-04:00

"She pause to get the timing just right. “Haven’t you heard that the customer is always right?""

Well, far be it from me to disagree with your mother, but that is an old adage that is well past its time.

The customer is not always right, because too many times, the customer screws up and doesn't want to admit it.

Too many times the customer is rude for no reason, and that does not make them right.

Do I sound cynical? ;-)

Customer service isn't easy, but it's necessary if...

2008-10-15T17:53:59.236-04:00

Customer service isn't easy, but it's necessary if you want to keep your business going, specially in tough times like these.

any chance you CAN take your business elsewhere? i...

2008-10-15T11:02:57.320-04:00

any chance you CAN take your business elsewhere? if enough people do it, old sleek-hair and his friends will sit up and take notice.

FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!Your mum is so right, the customer...

2008-10-15T10:55:10.544-04:00

FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!

Your mum is so right, the customer is always right..........unless they're wrong!! LOL!