I grew up learning to “vote with my feet,” as my mother described it. When a product or service was not good, she responded with action, not words. She took her business somewhere else.
One year she spent a lot of money on an Easter ham. When she opened the package to prepare the holiday meal, instead of the lean, beautiful ham she expected to find, she found…
A mountain of fat.
I don’t know what she served, instead – I can’t recall that meal, itself. But I do remember what action she took next. It became a family legend.
She didn’t stomp her feet, wring her hands, throw a fit or lose it. Instead, she boxed up that mountain of greasy fat and sent it to the company president. And then she got a response – a replacement ham.
Even so, she voted with her feet and moved her business elsewhere.
When service, once great, starts to slip gradually away, I’ll give the service provider, restaurant or store the benefit of the doubt. I may try to let them know how I think they can return to their previously stellar service.
But if the service continues to get careless, to slip away, we move our business somewhere else, to where we can tell they want it.
If you are a service provider of any type (doctor, dentist, retail store clerk or owner, consultant, designer, hairdresser…anything service-related at all) think about the service you’ve been providing lately. Consider:
- Do you like your work (be honest)? If so, it shows. If not, that shows, too. It makes a big difference in the quality of service you provide. If your answer is “no,” what steps can you take to explore alternative jobs, employers or locations? Can you change jobs and move now to something that fits you better, and makes better use of your interests and strengths?
- Do you care about the customers you have now? Again, it shows, whatever your answer is. If you like working with the ones you have, don’t take them for granted. A good customer is precious. If, on the other hand, you’d rather work with different customers, start to make changes so you start to attract the customers to your business, instead, with whom you work with best.
- Do you know what’s most important to your customers about the products and services you sell? Are you sure you know? You might be surprised, if you’re just guessing now. You may find that your customers are not as satisfied, overall, as you expect or hope.
- If you don’t know, ask. It may not be easy, but it’s very valuable information. I repeat: it’s VERY valuable information. It can help you retain, or refine the most important features of the products and services you provide. And that helps you keep the customers you have, and attract more of the customers you want to and can serve best.
