> And maybe most importantly, you are giving up the referral value of that
> customer. Wouldn't you rather have them tell their friends what good
> service you gave them
But, Pat, that still applies when you service a system you did not sell...
whether the products came from the web, or fell off a truck, or were
installed in a house for the previous owner, or were installed by a local
competitor who went under, or were purchased wholesale thru a friend who
works at a distrib.
_Any_ interaction with a prospective customer is a chance to make someone
happy, and make money, and win someone away from a competitor.
My father had a chain of clothing stores in shopping malls. Most of the
other stores in the malls claimed that the "rest rooms" were for employees
only or customers only.
In my father's stores, anyone who needed to use the john, was welcomed and
escorted. You'd be surprised how many people who only intended to take a
leak bought something on the way out, and came back for more, and told
their friends how well they were treated.
-------------------
OTOH, I was once in a SPRINT cellphone store to have my phone upgraded. I
was told it would take a few minutes, but the tech was still working on it
over a half an hour later. I asked if I could use the john, and was told it
is against company policy for customers to use the john. I asked for the
manager, and got the same story. I told her that unles she was prepared to
have me arrested for trespassing, or wanted me to pee on the carpeting, she
better let me use the john.
She temporarily suspended company policy, but I switched to Cingular
Wireless.
Michael N. Marcus
AbleComm, Inc.
www.ablecomm.com
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