Do you think it's fair...................................

Re: (trussdude)

The answer is yes.

If it is me then the answer is Yes.

If it is your brother the answer is Yes.

If the customer spends a ton of money the answer is Yes.

There are certain people who can suck the life out of you and your business. Frankly they make work like work. Give them suggestions on where to go...give them plenty of notice and then send them! If you had to go this far to ask us, then you should have already sent them away

Good Luck!

H8

Re: (ThePhreakshow)

Its too bad you can't just shoot some people. Some people need a good killing. I hate when people make it a game to see how much they can get for free...and the lies/half truths/guilt/et.al they tell to facilitate it. I found a long time ago to treat the people who I do business with (be it a barista/mechanic/laywer) the utmost respect and humor. I like getting a deal because I have earned it...by being a loyal customer or by the dealer wanting to stoke me out. Crying like a baby because UPS or some vendor misshipped something, or something else goes wrong/or is found wrong while the bike is being worked on is utter crap. I don't work for free...neither does Jason and Bill...I like the fact that they make a fair profit on me. It allows me to lean on their knowledge and not feel bad. It also (I would guess) gives them a reason to call me back...

The whole point of this is..."A deal/contract/purchase that is only good for one of the two parties isn't a good deal."... It leaves people with a bad taste in their mouth and results in Jason coming here to ask our opinion about how to deal with this situation.

H8

Re: (hearing8)

i used to work for a big corporation that once hired an ex home depot exec to teach us about customer service and stuff.
this fellow told us that home depot calculates that <U>3% of customers are the PITA </U>types you talk about. they lie, cheat, whine and will pull out all the stops.
these type of people will buy a bunch of garden furniture, rugs, and other items to hold a garden party and return all the items on monday even demanding a full refund on a stained rug. he said Home depot gladly takes back the items knowing full well what is going on...they just absorb it and make it up on the other honest 97%!...but overall thats their customer service strategy. they figure they will generate more biz overall having a great return policy and co operative happy staff.....
i deal in industrial sales and its easy for me to say "im sold out for 6 months" and i can generally get rid of these types of customers or each time the customer calls back ill jump the prices a few percent making up some increased cost scenario usually involving transportation costs and exchange rates......(my italian mechanic demands to be paid in Euros..so labour is up 10% sucka!)
but i guess retail is so difficult....

all i know is the home depot guy says they used to make something like 150% markup on those small doo dads at the checkout counter(he called it IMPULSE item-cash cow)..you know those bbq lighters, those gadgety screwdrivers made in china......and thats where they can offset some losses from the 3% PITA freaks!!

oh well business sure is tough but when i have a bad day i just say at least we live in a great part of the world where we dont have to worry too much about going hungry and just have to deal with the 3% that statistics will throw at us.

the chinese character for "problem" is same character for "opportunity" so everytime we had a "problem" shipment(damaged goods that shipped across the Pacific) my chinese distributor would optimistically say...."actually im happy...we have a problem but i will solve it and i will have an opportunity to show my customer how i can deal with crisis and in the long term i will have learned a lesson on how to deal with problems"..

i guess if that doesnt work i guess you can put up that 'queer eye for the straight guy ducati poster" all over your shop..haha


Modified by autostrada1 at 6:11 AM 12/31/2004


Modified by autostrada1 at 6:12 AM 12/31/2004

Re: (autostrada1)

Jason,

I've owned a restaurant. I have friends who have their own businesses in the motorcycle game. We had this discussion on Christmas eve.

The concensus was; Get rid of them. "You know, we don't seem to be able to meet your needs here at Section8Superbike. (here's what you wanted) and (here's what we were able to do)...and you're still not happy. I'm truly sorry that we weren't able to meet your needs and hope that the next place to go to will be able to succeed where we failed." Then send them to the guy across town that you can't stand.

You can't make everyone happy - some people just want to be miserable pains in the ass. And shooting them isn't exactly legal.

If you haven't met their needs, it's much nicer to confess your unhappiness with your failure (try doing it without "wa-hoo'ing" as soon as they go out the door) and make a suggestion of whom you think they will be happy.

I'm sure their friends know that they really suck. Main thing is to let them think that you're doing this for their own good.

Re: Do you think it's fair................................... (section8superbike)

I had a customer (service on his scoot) who could not pick it up. So, I trucked it to his home (rich mutha) on my dime. He had the balls to demand that I should have polished his bike! I said: "you got to be kidding me"

I took about 10 steps, turned around, and told him never to bring his bike into my shop again!

That afternoon, a lady picked up her bike from the shop and gave me a tip (a decent size tip too). Se refused to take it back wen I tried to stop her. She is an artist (and most of them don't make crap for a living).

Some people amaze me.

I have absolutely no regrets telling that guy off. I have so many good, greatful, friendly, happy customers, it never made a dent in business.

Victor

Sorry but I'm gonna drag my soapbox out on this. If you are in business to feed the kids, put them in school, have a home, buy some toys, etc. you have to have a customer focused mindset. The motorcycle industry is not in a huge growth period. I would bet that Ducati sales are shrinking along with sales of everything else. So the goal for S8SBK is to be to be a market leader in a shrinking market. That's tough. You have to work hard to retain all of your current customers as well as bring in new ones. I don't know you guys personally but from the posts I've read you seem like decent people with a true love for the sport. Someone should sit down with this customer and ask him: Why did things go so poorly? Is there something we didn't ask or you didn't tell us initially? If you invest the time this guy will come around for you and you will have a customer for life. These are not washing machines we are buying/selling/modifying/maintaining. They are motorcycles. For most they are a toy, albeit an expensive one, but not a necessity. Most of us have a great deal of passion for our bikes. If my Suburban is running a little rough I don't freak. I think oh, bad tank of gas, it'll clear up. If the Hotrod M944 so much as hiccups I lose sleep. You have to keep this in mind. So when a customer gets excited and maybe acts rudely remember: This is not just a bike. It's like one of his/her kids and it's really important that it's treated as such. Getting back to what to do in this situation though, if it was my business I would do all I could to understand what the core problem is. Be up front and honest with the guy. I bet you can turn him around. Sorry for the speech. I'm done now.

Re: Do you think it's fair................................... (section8superbike)

having been behind the counter a good number of years , and getting my share twice a day most of the times ... well .. word of mouth advertisment is great .. bad word of mouth advertisement is 10x's as bad . we try to inform the customer about each product and how to use them ... even the ones that have no idea ( and put them on paper ... (painting insturctions & applications) from walk in's to accounts the PITA's will never go away .. Satisfy them as humanly possible and smile . Then tell them to have a good day . wait for them to leave then call them any thing you like !!!
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MKIA »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What ever happened to "The customer is always right".</TD></TR></TABLE>
does the customer have any clue ???