Tag Archives: customer service

We don’t need no stinkin’ CRM automation

As business people, we’re always looking for ways to do our jobs better – find the best products, efficiently manage inventory, streamline shipping, improve our website, etc.
The one thing we’ve never changed is how we deal with customers. If someone reaches out to us – we respond. Promptly and politely.
If there’s a problem – we solve it. There’s nothing “behind the curtain.” There is no curtain. If someone wants to talk to us, our phone number is all over the place. So is our email address.
Does that make it easy for spammers to find us? Sure. But we’d rather hit the “delete” button a few times, listen to the start of a few more robo-calls, than cause difficulty for a single customer.

Our inbox is usually pretty packed with companies offering to find us multitudes of new contacts, leads, customers, etc. Apparently there’s a thing called “CRM” – which stands for Customer Relationship Management. And this CRM can be automatic, so human hands don’t have to pick up a phone and human ears don’t have to listen to people. It relieves us of the messiness of dealing with people. And we’re promised our business will grow by leaps and bounds if we purchase some CRM automation.
Thanks, but no thanks.

cave woman

Old-fashioned talking to people is the best “customer relationship management.”

We think the way to build a business is to apply the fundamental rule of humanity: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Offer a variety of products that are useful, helpful, well-made, safe, entertaining.
Offer these products at a reasonable price.
Stand behind the products you offer.
Be fair.
Listen.
Try to avoid problems, but if they occur, fix them quickly.
Respect everyone.

We think it’s the right way to do business. We like talking to people and hearing about their dogs. We love getting emails that include pictures of their dogs. We think it’s fun to make connections all over the country, and the world.

So, to all the software companies out there offering to take the messy part of our business off our hands, we cordially decline. We’ll stay here in the mess. It’s where all our friends hang out.

Making a difference – one at a time

Every once in a while, especially when the international and national news is full of the horrors of our age, I feel like my job is unimportant, trivial, and I should be using whatever skills I have to make a difference in the world.

And then I have a day like yesterday. When a older gentleman brings his best friend, his beloved older dog and asks me to make sure she’s comfortable and warm. To an observer, it may look like I’m fitting a dog for a harness and a coat. And, practically, I am. But it goes so much further.

I have no way of knowing if my projections reflect reality – but during our conversation across his lovely little poodle’s back, I got the impression that I could be the only person he’s talked to in a while. I’m certainly the only one who listened carefully to what he had to say, cared about his responses, and treated his opinions with respect.

He was extraordinarily grateful. And I found that sad. I didn’t do anything but have a conversation with another person. A real conversation. He talked and I listened. I talked and he listened. We exchanged information and came to a decision based on mutual understanding.

Image courtesy of Fake Plastic Alice on Flickr.com https://www.flickr.com/photos/fakeplasticalice/

Image courtesy of Fake Plastic Alice on Flickr.com https://www.flickr.com/photos/fakeplasticalice/

I was just “doing my job.” As a retailer, I know it’s “good customer service.” But it’s more – it’s recognizing that people matter. We can connect over a mutual love for these wonderful dogs that enrich our lives. My job is important – I try to make someone’s life better, easier, happier, every single day.

 

Please don’t make us sad – just call!

We got an email in the shop last week that made me very sad.
It was an official PayPal notification that someone had filed a dispute of a charge, saying they never received the item ordered. The order had been placed over six months before.
I was sad because this was the first we’d heard of it – the customer never got in touch. If she had, we could have worked with her, tracked the package, replaced the item – provided the good customer service that we pride ourselves on and that our customers can depend on.

Instead, probably because in times of mega-retailers and online sales, people don’t want to deal with trying to navigate endless push-button menus to talk to a real person. They don’t want to have customer service apps that pop up and offer online chats, or a call-back within 24 hours. People want their problems resolved with as little hassle as possible – and in their experience, most retailers can’t, won’t or don’t make it easy.

And we are retailers. With our phone number on every page of our website. And when the phone rings, we answer it. There are two of us here – both owners, both with the primary purpose of keeping our customers, and their dogs, happy. If there’s a problem we not only want to know about it, we want to solve it – quickly and easily. If it’s after hours, we return calls the next day. If we’re helping other customers, we return calls as soon as we’re free.

We’re also consumers. And we’ve had our share of customer service issues dealing with big companies. (We can’t even begin to count the number of hours on hold with the phone company!) We treat our customers the way we want to be treated – the way everyone should be treated – we listen, we try to understand, and we fix it.

If you ever have a question or problem – give us a call. We’re here to help.