Golden Rule

I try to live my life by the Golden Rule:  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, or treat people the way you want to be treated.  It seems simple enough.  I just think to myself, how would I want to be treated in this particular situation.  Would I want to be yelled at, made to feel stupid, or ignored?  Probably not.  And yet, this is the way many people conduct business.

 I live in an area with many small businesses and independant contractors.  They are mostly in the service industry:  massage, facial, and other spa-like services.  It is highly competitive.  Prices are low because of so much competition.  It's a consumer's paradise, really.  The one thing that can make a person or business stand out is great customer service.  Yet so many business owners have no idea what that means.  They may know their job, but they don't know how to treat their clients.

Before retiring, I owned 2 completely different small businesses.  The first was a travel agency in the late 70s and early 80s.  It was very successful.  I sold it in 1983 after it became clear that the travel business was going to change...a lot, due to deregulation.

The second was basically Tax Prep.  After selling the travel agency, I became a CPA.  In both cases, excellent customer service meant return business.

Recently, I've been running into questionable (or even unacceptable) customer service all the time.  I had a facial 2 weeks ago and the owner/facialist answered her phone twice while we were in session.  Then she left me alone in the room for 10 minutes with a mask on my face.  Neither of those behaviors is acceptable.

A couple of months ago I had a massage at a local massage therapy business.  It was the second time I'd been there, which made me a return customer, meaning I was happy with my first visit.  I was treated horribly by the owner herself.  First she ignored me when  I was ready to pay and leave.  Then she yelled at me and called me rude. And this was the Owner!  When I got home I called her to try to give her some feedback but she continued to yell at me.  So I took to the internet: Yelp, Google, Trip Adviser.  I posted  reviews on all of them.

When  someone does get the customer service right, I'm quick to praise them and tell them exactly what they are doing right.  I've also been known to make suggestions for things they might want to try in the future.

I've been trying to think of some way I could help those who would like to be helped.  Clearly, some don't want to know and think they are already doing things right.  But others would probably welcome a way to grow their business.  I contacted the local Chamber of Commerce to see if they would want me to conduct a workshop but they never got back to me.  I've thought about setting up a feedback website and I may look into that.