Stealing a customer…under my own eyes!
Taking a break in writing my rant about value and charging for added service etc. to share a small story. One that I really find hard to believe, but since it did happen it has me thinking of customer loyalty.
So the story…
Two customers are in yesterday…Customer A is a somewhat “regular” stopping in once a month or so and making a small purchase. Same thing this trip. Customer B is fairly new, just getting started, and it seems he appreciates the advice and guidance on products, proper use and such that the customer service folks typically offer.
Both are standing at our counter, while the warehouse crew picks their orders, when Customer A (in front of our ever vigil warehouse manager) says to Customer B (our new client just learning the business mind you) “Why don’t you go to the other guy and buy these couple of products, these guys are too expensive”.
When this story is related to me at first I was peeved, well okay, can’t use the language to describe how I actually felt in this forum… But why would one customer tell another to go elsewhere, especially in my own place of business, in front of one of our best employees???
Made no sense at the time, and makes no sense now.
Maybe he thought he was doing the Customer B a favor, do you think? Like go across town, drive an extra hour and save yourself $5.00 on a couple of things. You may not get any service or knowledge or help, but you would be saving a few bucks.
So was it really a favor to Customer B? Who happens to be a competitor now to Customer A?
But no matter what the reasoning or the outcome, it has me pondering customer loyalty for one, but also the needs of each customer. Customer A obviously doesn’t need the service or expertise or guidance and is only interested in price, but he shouldn’t assume that is the same for other customers.
But hey…it does segue back into my rant about charging for value and not just service….which I will take up again later.
But talk about unprofessional….sheesh.
Oh as a side note…Customer A won’t be receiving the same treatment as Customer B in the future. It’s a 2 way street.