Customer service in tough economic times

With so many businesses competing with each other, with similar services and products, the deciding factor that sets a business apart is customer service. Excellent customer service can breed repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals, seeding success through building a strong reputation. Just as powerful, terrible customer service can cripple a business and cause it to fold under the weight of its own policies and behavior.

I don't like fast food, but it's an occasional reality – especially with kids. My oldest son wanted to eat at a place tonight famous for its roast beef. We normally buy a kids meal with a ham-and-cheese sandwich. I pull up to the speaker, order his food and am told they now only offer kids meals with jr. roast beef sandwiches or popcorn chicken. I asked when that changed, as we had bought the ham-n-cheese often without any fuss, and the voice said it happened three or four months ago. Not only is that not true, as we had one less than a month ago, but it is annoying.

Restaurants naturally shape their menus to reflect what sells. There are franchises that also modify their menus separately of company policy. When it comes to fast food, I don't think any of us expect stellar customer service. We visit a certain brand out of convenience, expecting to get what we want to eat. That means that to meet our expectations and earn our business, that's all they have to do: give us the food items we want. When that doesn't happen, as was the case today, the restaurant lost my business today and probably every time we pick that company with my son in the car. Because this is the closest one of these establishments to our house (the other one nearby burned recently), that represents quite a bit of money across the next 12 months.

Decisions have to be made to cut costs and serve a customer base as a whole. But now is not the time to cut choices for customers. Not only should choices abound, but it's an opportunity to ensure employees are trained to not only perform their jobs well, but offer customer service above and beyond.

For my photography business, I don't just take photos. A lot of people can do that. I continue to develop my style and attempt to find a niche in the community, but I strive for the best customer service possible in everything I do now. I'm not only selling the images, but selling myself. If a customer isn't happy, I'm not, either, until I've done everything I can to solve the issue. I'm working to simplify my offerings, but not constrict them. If there ever is a time, now is not it to time to limit customer choices. When you or someone you know is looking for a photographer who cares, please keep me in mind.

By the way, we ended up at another fast-food chain. They got our order wrong.