Customer Service Rules for Your Home-Based Business
Tags: Business, Customer Service, Home Based Business, The Work at Home Woman, Work at Home
Posted in Business Information, How to Work from Home 
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By Holly Reisem Hanna
This past October our family traveled to Blue Eye, Missouri (a small town of 150 residents), to visit with my husband’s side of the family. The first night we were there we decided to eat at small Mexican restaurant; being from Texas where Mexican restaurants are a dime a dozen, I wasn’t expecting much from the food, but I did expect courteous service and some small town charm.
We sat ourselves, which was the norm for this establishment. I looked over the menu and decided on some chicken flautas; I picked this dish because I was craving something crunchy and it came with guacamole – my favorite! Our waitress soon brought the food out, but mentioned to me that the kitchen had messed up on my order and instead made me chicken fajitas. She went on to say, that if I accepted the chicken fajitas, that they would charge me the price for the flautas, but they would give the “more expensive” dish the chicken fajitas.
I didn’t really want the fajitas, but to be accommodating I accepted them. I first noticed that the fajitas didn’t have any guacamole, so I politely asked the waitress to bring me some. She nonchalantly said, “We don’t have any”. I was not happy about this revelation, I didn’t want fajitas in the first place and now I had to eat them without guacamole. Okay, fine I wasn’t going to let this ruin my dinner. I opened up the package of tortillas to make my first fajita only to find that the tortillas were cut into tiny, small triangles.
I summoned the waitress to ask her for some regular sized, round tortillas. But once again, I got the response, “We don’t have any”. I wanted to say, “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING”!!! But I politely said, “Okay”. While we were eating our lack luster meal, the waitress started to put chairs up on tables signaling that she was ready to get out of there. Funny thing is the restaurant didn’t close for another two hours! We left the restaurant in disbelief, our waitress never apologized for the incorrect food order, lack of tortillas or guacamole, in fact she was rather bothered by us even coming in there to eat.
They next day my mother-in-law had an open house for all the relatives to come visit us, and with her four living siblings, their spouses, children and grandchildren that is a ton of people! So when people asked what we had done so far, each and every one of them got a recap of our dining experience at the small Mexican restaurant. In PR this is what you call 3rd party credibility or in this case bad PR. As you can imagine this story was probably told a few more times, and for a small restaurant in a town of only 150 this is not good for your business!
What is the lesson of the story? When you run a home-based business, whether you’re a virtual assistant or you make tutus for little girls, people will always come back for good customer service! Take the example above had the waitress been friendly, apologetic, accommodating and nice; even though our food was not what we ordered; we undoubtedly would have gone back. But since we received such poor customer service we will never return.
So how do you treat your customers’ right? Here are five customer service rules to get you started.
- Listen. Listening to what your customer wants and needs is a huge key to customer service success. By listening to what your customer has to say you can alleviate stress and find solutions to any challenges.
- Fix the problem. Whether it’s a wrong food order or a mistake on a document you sent out, the problem needs to be addressed and mended. Offer a complimentary appetizer, a free dessert, remake the order, and make the customer feel like you’re trying to help them.
- Offer assistance. On the same road trip to Missouri we stopped at the local pharmacy to get a coloring book for my daughter. They didn’t have any, but the sales clerk was kind enough to rummage in the back and find an old one that was left by her nephew. My daughter was thrilled and you can bet we tell people how kind and generous the clerk was.
- Be attentive. Whether is answering the phone, email or snail mail. Be attentive to your customers needs. How many times have you emailed a company and never received a response? It’s so frustrating! I love when I get prompt response from company and even better yet is when I ask a question on Twitter and I get a tweet immediately from the company – now that’s attentive!
- Spoil your customer. Go the extra mile and do something special for your customer. Our local grocery store, HEB, has this down to a tee. They have free cookies for the kids, to keep them occupied while shopping; upon check out kids get a free balloon and Buddy Buck which allows them to play the crane game for free. Whether it’s free gift wrapping, a thank you card or a free goodie people remember these niceties and they will return!
When thinking about customer service in your home-based business, remember to have the right attitude, enthusiasm and commitment. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Spending a little extra money upfront will only increase your revenue in the long term.
Related Articles:
5 Rules to Boost Your Business Etiquette Today
Business Etiquette – More Than Just Eating with the Right Fork
2 Responses to “Customer Service Rules for Your Home-Based Business”
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December 3rd, 2009 at 9:14 am
Holly,
I couldn’t agree more! Since I started my business my philosophy has been to make sure our customers are happy – no matter what. This past summer we refunded someone’s money 4 months after the end of a modular course. She even told us that the course had been fine but she really was broke and needed the money. I refunded her money without blinking an eye ($275.00). This is the most extreme case we’ve had, and here’s what I know.
The publicity I bought with that refund is priceless. She loves us as a company and will promote and share that with everyone she knows. I know that the direct sales world can be small and when someone feels passionately about you (either passionately happy or passionately furious), they can spread that feeling to literally hundreds of people through social media and e-mail in a matter of minutes.
Great post. I plan on sharing!
Julie Anne Jones
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:03 am
Thanks Julie, I’m glad you liked the article.