It is amazing how such a small act can create distaste in the eyes of some of your most loyal customers. There is a little wine shop in the town where I live. The economy has not been good to the folks who own the shop and they are struggling to keep open. Many people have tried to give them ideas, and I for one have hired them to cater an event and even planned my monthly women’s networking group meeting there on the first Wednesday of every month.
Well, last month many of us got to see a side of why the place is struggling so hard. The owners are not as worried about their customers as they are about having it all, before it goes down. My meeting was planned well in advance. It has been on the same date for the last 6 months. On this particular night, a wine maker from California came in to town. So, the proprietors emailed everyone they know to come in for a free wine tasting. All well and good. You can’t begrudge them for trying to make some money. However, the wine maker gets to speak, and my meeting cannot start on time. Then about 45 minutes in to the meeting we ask if we can get some cheese and bread to go with our wine. - We were told that they were closing up so that they could go out to dinner with the wine maker! Now mind you, there are at least 30 people who showed up to the event. The wine maker was late, so each of these people had to at least buy one glass of wine before he arrived. Some purchased a bottle. My meeting was not supposed to end for another hour and we were being herded out as quickly as possible so they could go to some upscale restaurant at the winemaker’s expense.
Those of us that were at the meeting were in disbelief, since we knew how hard they were trying to keep business coming in the door. Inviting customers in, and then shooing them out for your own enjoyment are not the makings of good business. Many people were talking about this for days. Employees of the people that were in that room were talking about it for days. The saying is true, if you do something great, no one knows about it. Do something bad and everyone will know about it and tell their friends. I am not sure if this hurt their business or not. However, it was agreed that our meetings will no longer be held at this establishment, and I am not sure I will recommend them for any more catering jobs. Just think what might happen if they decide to go to dinner again on a night they were committed to a job?
Our business depends on good customer service and loyal customers. Sometimes this means staying late and working on a client project. It can mean putting in orders well after the time we have closed. Emails need to be responded to, and we do that even on the weekends. Treating your customers with respect is at the top of the list of good customer service. Without loyal customers, and respect and sometimes putting your business ahead of things we would rather be doing, we wouldn’t have a chance at the type of life we want to live. We’ve built our business because of the customer service we provide. We love our customers and it shows every day.
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