(Bet you’ve never seen a blog title like this before!) Greetings from a very wet Shrewsbury!
I’ve lived here since 1993 and haven’t seen flooding this bad. My heart goes out to all the businesses affected.
Battlefield was spared this time, although traffic has been super heavy thanks to the closure of so many roads around the area. I welcomed cancellations this week as safety comes first, but everyone has made it.
The Best Advertising Is Done by Satisfied Customers
I’ve recently had a bad experience with customer service, which I’ll tell you about shortly, but it got me thinking about customer service.
The greatest referral source for Skin Deep Clinic is word of mouth.
Nearly every new client I see has been recommended me by a friend/relative/colleague. It may be impossible to be everybody’s “cup of tea”, but I pride myself on giving everybody a service they would want to recommend.
I actively seek feedback by messaging clients two weeks after treatment to check their expectations have been met and if not to book a free review.
My goal is that if a client is dissatisfied, we reach an agreeable solution.
I would like this to result in the client feeling satisfied with the ultimate outcome. So, if a dissatisfied client is chatting about me or Skin Deep Clinic they will say “I wasn’t happy with the treatment, but I am happy with the way she handled the complaint.”
I have a big client base and loyalty is high on my priorities too.
I keep a record of clients who recommend new patients and have a reward scheme by way of thanks. Also, if a regular client phones at short notice unable to make their appointment, (I do ask for 24 hours’ notice where possible), I am not going to demand they pay me for lost clinic time, when their reason is genuine and their loyalty is so important to me.
Customer Loyalty is Priceless
So, recently I was astonished when an adventure travel company I have been a client of for three years, and spent a considerable amount of money with, not to mention referred countless other people, slapped me with a huge bill after cancelling my space on a trip!
I cancelled before the balance was due, so I knew I would lose my deposit.
I had genuine personal reasons for not being able to travel (and you all know my love of adventure travel, so this wasn’t an easy decision).
Unbeknown to me their terms and conditions are different to standard travel agent terms and conditions, whereby if you cancel under 90 days, it means the full balance MUST be paid irrelevant of your reason for cancelling.
I know I should have ‘read the small print’ I hear you sigh. Needless to say, I questioned the decision-making process given my loyalty, spend and recommendations.
This has been met with bizarre responses including “it is clear what the next steps are.”
Umm… no… not a clue. Incidentally I asked my 13 year old what the next steps are and she suggested a hailstorm of Pygmy Puffs may be coming my way…
What have I learnt from this? Not every company values loyalty. Small print should be analysed with a fine toothcomb. Don’t go to the same school of customer service as this business owner. And finally, Pygymy Puffs are super cute!
The IT Crowd
In other news, I excelled myself with my IT skills (again!). I managed to switch Google to Polish. Guess what? To switch it back it helps to be able to speak Polish. That’s an hour of my life I will never get back…
So zobaczenia (that’s see you soon in Polish!)
