I’m in the market for some business cards. With my book, iSucceed, now available for purchase (and the ebook and audio available soon enough) I thought maybe it’s time for me to put things into high gear.
And what better way than with flashy new business cards.
So naturally I went on line to see what I could find. I was amazed at how far some people go to impress clients with their business cards.
Some of the more original (and memorable) I found were
- Wooden
- Metal
- Plastic
- Fold-able
- Origami
- Embossed (the photo above)
- Foil
- Silk
- Clear
Not knowing which would suit my concept I decided to contact a few different companies to see if they might be able to help me out.
As one might expect I got a variety of responses to my emails.
One was simple and to the point – “send me what you got and i will take a look at it for you.”
While I think it could have been spruced up a little, I do appreciate people who don’t bother wasting my time. I sent my sample over to him.
Another company wrote back I give them a call or contact their live chat service to discuss things in further detail.
I went with their live chat service and their customer representative was most helpful.
The last company’s response was, “Many thanks for your enquiry, unfortunately we cannot produce this type of card.”
Yikes – that’s it? Gee thanks. I can see they really care about their customers. (naturally I’m being sarcastic)
Which brings me to today’s topic – 3 ways to lose a customer. They are
- Poor service (attitude, care, knowledge, speed)
- Poor product
- Greed
When we meet someone for the first time we give them the once over. Clothes, hair, accessories, figure, movement, whatever.
Even if we don’t realize we are doing it, we are looking for clues to better understand who they are.
And as Jim Rohn says, “You don’t have a second chance to make a first impression.”
The same can be said for an office, a restaurant, a school or a website.
We want to be warmly greeted, our questions answered sincerely and accurately, and made to feel special if at all possible.
Failure to do any of these and you could very well lose the customer.
However, some people are willing to overlook poor service if the product is good enough.
Then there’s greed. Sadly some businesses get greedy. They don’t start out that way but over time they begin to cut corners to boost their bottom-line.
A few extra charges here, save a few pennies there, and soon what started out as a company with a fine reputation begins to suffer.
Some recover, some never do.
I’ve seen it happen more than once and each time the result was the same – disaster.
Don’t let that happen to you. Treat your customers with respect and care, all the while serving their needs and you’ll set yourself up to win.
Adrian Shepherd