Initially published by LifeHealthPro.com, an online publication of Summit Business Media, Inc. and partner of Senior Market Advisor magazine.
By Brooks A. Brown
The old adage that “the customer is always right” is wrong. It may be shocking to read, but it’s true. The customer is, in fact, often wrong. We’re all customers of some sort. We make a multitude of transactions every day with businesses. We buy groceries, stop at gas stations, pick up a cup of coffee at Starbucks, buy clothing at department stores, and so on.
Photo Credit: Shout Out LLC
Our dog had an upset stomach a few weeks ago and I went to a local pet supply store to buy some cans of food that help sooth his stomach. I’d purchased the product at our local vet before but had seen it on the shelf of the pet supply store the last time I visited.
Since it was the weekend and the vet was closed, I remembered I’d seen the product at the supply store, picked up a package of 12 cans and went to the checkout isle. I sat my items down and the cashier asked if I had a prescription card for the food. I didn’t, and didn’t know I needed one. She explained that the food was available for purchase only with a written prescription from our vet. Oops. I put the food back on the shelf, proceeded to purchase the other items, the cashier apologized for the inconvenience (no fault of hers), and life went on.
I was the customer and I was wrong. The key to this being a successful interaction between the cashier and myself (the customer) was the way in which the client (the cashier who represented the pet supply chain) handled the situation. There were two possible outcomes to this interaction. The first possible outcome is that I was wrong, she was polite, and life went on. She kept the customer. I’ll be back. The second possible outcome, knowing I was wrong, could have been her slamming the cans down on the counter and yelling at the top of her lungs “I’m so damn tired of this. Can’t you read a freaking sign mister?! RIGHT under the cans it says ‘this product can only be purchased with a written prescription from your veterinarian.’ What the hell is wrong with you?! Put it back or give me a freaking prescription card! Moron.”
Let’s evaluate the second scenario. Cause and effect can be brutal, especially in the retail and service industries. Let’s look at the series of events that would have unfolded. First, the client (the pet supply store) would have lost my business. They would have lost the average of $500 I spend at their store each year. Second, the majority of the nine people within hearing distance of the cashier’s rant would potentially take their future business elsewhere. If each of them spent an average of $500 at that store in any given year, that’s a total loss of $5000 in recurring revenue. Losing those 10 customers is just the beginning.
On average, an unhappy customer will tell 9-15 others about their bad experience with any given company. Even more, 13 percent of dissatisfied customers will tell more than 20 others about their experience (source: White House Office of Consumer Affairs).
In this scenario, 10 people left the store with the intension never to return. Those 10 people went back to their lives. They went back to work, back to their Sunday school classes, and other social gatherings. Over a few weeks, maybe even months, let’s assume they tell 10 others about the horrible experience they had at that pet supply store. Within weeks, 100 people have an intimate and first-hand knowledge of the experience that night at the pet store. Chances are, most of them won’t grace the store with their presence. Chances are even better that at least half of those 100 people will tell five others about their friend’s experience. This second-hand recounting of a bad customer service experience has now reached more than 350 potential or current customers throughout the community.
The advent of social media outlets has added an additional layer to this rule. The game changed. Now, thousands of people can hear about poor customer service experiences through sites like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Let’s say those initial 10 customers in the pet supply store also tweeted about their experience, posted a status update on Facebook, and maybe one or two blogged about it. The potential damage is now unbelievably magnified.
These statistics are word-of-mouth at its best…and its worst. It can, in some instances, literally make or break your business or at least put a dent in it. All it takes is one exceptionally bad experience and you’ve lost tens of thousands of dollars in potential profit, not to mention, earned yourself a poor reputation, and if we’ve learned one thing about our free-market economy, reputation is everything.
About the Author
Brooks A. Brown is the founder and principal of Shout Out LLC, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based marketing, public relations, and communications firm serving clients throughout the nation.
