Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM March 2020 | Page 12

SMALL BUSINESS DOUG BAUMANN Director Galveston County Small Business Development Center 409.933.1414 | [email protected] www.gcsbdc.com GROW YOUR BUSINESS by Going Beyond! I ’m an old school Gen X traditional shopper. Having spent over a decade with big box retailers opening stores throughout the Southern states, I learned what “Going Beyond” means. Living out “Going Beyond” leaves Customer Service in the dust. The phrase “customer service” is misused so much of the time. Why do big box retailers have a “customer service” sign over the counter where you wait in line, plead your case, and maybe walk away with a credit, and maybe not? My employer trained us to be human and approachable. We wore blue jeans and tennis shoes to work and addressed each other by our first name. My first day on the job, I wore a tie and was told to take it off and relax! When I first addressed our regional Vice President as Mr…., he said, “No, call me Ed”. Whenever backup cashiers were needed at the front of the store, I hopped on a register and no one knew I was the general manager – I was Doug. No formalities – just be yourself. We’re a team, all on the same playing field. Here’s what “Going Beyond” means: A gentleman and his daughter returned a scented candle. They failed to read the directions on the bottom, did not cut the wick, and left it burning near their air vent and went to go see a movie for 3 hours. When they returned home, the entire downstairs of their home had soot damaged walls and required repainting, an $800.00 fix up. Admitting he was in the wrong, he asked if we could do anything to help. I turned the claim in to our insurance group, and of course, the claim was denied. But, we have a “never say no” policy, so I called our Regional Vice President asking how to proceed. He asked me, what would you 10 MOMENTUM do, Doug, if you want this customer to return to your store and remain a client? I responded that I would like to help with his dilemma, pay for half of the paint job, empathize, and yet not take responsibility that it was our fault, because it wasn’t. In this instance, I would not be saying no, but I’m meeting my customer half way because I value his business. My RVP said, great, DO IT! So we cut the customer a $400.00 check AND sent him a $50.00 gift card in the mail asking him to please come and visit again. You see, my company didn’t advertise heavily on TV or in the paper and so to spend a few hundred bucks to make a customer happy was encouraged. Once a lady brought in a broken vacuum that she purchased two years ago from us. I could have tried to send it back to the manufacturer for repair, or argue that it’s two years old and way past a warranty guarantee. Instead, I escorted her to the vacuum section and said, “pick out a new vacuum – it’s on us – sorry the one you purchased didn’t hold up”. We made a product return as easy and enjoyable as a product purchase. The number of new customers we gained from word of mouth advertising was phenomenal. Since my time with that company, I’ve never liked the phrase Customer Service; I love to Go Beyond, though, in everything that I do! That’s how you grow your business. Our team at the Galveston County Small Business Development Center strives to take this approach when helping our clients. The customer is not always right but doing the right thing always is.