What do low prices really cost?
Colleagues and friends love to tell me their personal customer service stories. Especially the bad ones. Using their stories in my training workshops will help reform those guilty of delivering poor customer service – or so they believe. After hearing another narrative from a friend this week, I’ve come up with a different learning experience on this situation.
Friend Ben described to me his buying experience at the “lowest-price” discount chain of stores. He was buying fresh-sliced deli meat and the clerk took almost an hour to fill his order of several pounds of sliced products. Why did it take so long? Ben said the clerk carried on a side conversation with her coworkers and was in no hurry to get the job done.
After the order was complete, my friend proceeded to advise the store manager of the poor service he received believing the manager would want to be advised. To his utter amazement, he not only didn’t receive an apology, but the manager let him know his comments weren’t welcome and wouldn’t be acted upon. My friend was still aghast three days later when he relayed his ordeal to me.
I asked Ben if that was a regular occurrence at that store. He admitted service was never great, but not as bad as that incident. “Why do you shop there?” I asked. “Low prices,” he responded.
I couldn’t resist getting on my soapbox. “It seems to me that the trade-off for spending less is actually costing you a lot more in time and aggravation.” How much did that shopping experience really cost him? By the sounds of it, a lot.
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not condoning poor customer service practices. Nor am I saying that all discount stores have dismal customer service. But many times the overall cost far outweighs the dollars spent.
Lesson to buyers: Businesses that are the lowest price are not always the lowest cost. Will you pay a little more to reward good service?
Emily Huling Selling Strategies, Inc.
P.O. Box 200 Terrell, NC 28682
Phone: 888-309-8802 Fax: 888-309-7355