Someone I know recently experienced a sudden health issue requiring an overnight stay in the hospital. Their stay was characteristically unpleasant what with the uncomfortable bed, the incessant noise from the corridor and the not so quiet snoring from their roommate. The whole experience was frightening, starting with tremors and slurred speech followed by an ambulance ride to the emergency room, a CAT and MRI brain scan and finally an unsettling overnight stay. This eventful 24 hour period resulted in a $13,000 bill that the insurance company settled for $3000.
"Considering the frightening symptoms I was showing," my friend told me, "it was a pretty good value. After all, the situation had me more focused on finding a solution than on minimizing cost." Hmmm, perhaps therein lies a lesson for service companies. Many companies are afraid of charging what they really should because they are more concerned about the impact of their pricing than the value of what their pricing affords. When the customer's problem is immediate and intense (i.e. no cooling on a 100° + weekend day) and the solution you provide gives the customer complete relief, (same day cooling with no callbacks) the price becomes secondary. Handled correctly and professionally, this expensive experience might even drive your customer to enthusiastically recommend you to others.
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In the end, all was well with my friend. They had simply suffered a short-term but scary reaction to a recently prescribed medicine. The lesson however is enduring. When service companies price their work based upon customer expectation, they cannot thrive and may not survive. Find out what you must charge to remain profitably in business and then provide your customer with enough value to turn them into enthusiastic supporters of your company. Not following this prescription is sure to cause you more than one night of restless sleep.
Recently while getting my hair cut at a major franchise salon business, a customer came in who had supposedly made an appointment with a specific stylist. The stylist was absent as she was not scheduled to work Saturdays. The customer was upset on hearing this, insisting the stylist had always done her hair on Saturday afternoons. The manager then intervened, and while he could have handled this any number of ways, he chose the following.
He told the customer, "I do all the scheduling and Missy has never worked on a weekend. She has children and can't arrange for a babysitter so she only works Monday through Friday! You had to have come in on a Monday through Friday if Missy ever did your hair." The customer was given no way out. Not only will they not get their hair cut today, they have been insulted to boot. We have all been in this customer's shoes at one time or another, how did we respond? Probably with a tersely worded "Fine, I will never get my haircut here again!"
In all likelihood, the manager was correct if she indeed handles the scheduling, but what was to be gained by creating conflict with the customer? Instead, the manager could have apologized for the misunderstanding while trying to reschedule at a day and time suitable for the customer. The manager could have even given the customer a discount coupon to remove some of the sting from an unpleasant interaction. A combative approach may not result in losing the customer, but even if you retain their business, they will probably not enthusiastically recommend your company to others. At worst, they will tell prospective customers to avoid your firm. A good adage to keep in mind is this. The customer may not always be right, but they are always the customer.
There are millions of blogs out there, what is the difference between the really good ones and the really bad ones? I would propose that the difference is "you." What am I talking about?
The subject matter in the average (and worst) blog is very "I" focused. The discussion centers around the thoughts and opinions of the writer as they try to foist their beliefs on the reading public. In a really good blog, the writer is nearly invisible. The topics are informative, interesting and thought provoking, but most importantly they focus on what is important to the reader. That is what the Callahan Roach blog will endeavor to be about -- you the reader.
So, as we kick off the newest blog on the World Wide Web, (at least for the next few seconds) we want to hear from you. What is it about your business that keeps you awake at night? Is your service department returning the kind of efficiency and profitability that you would like? Is the economy and your competitors causing you to "price for survival" as opposed to pricing for profitability? If so, how do you break out of that vicious spiral?
So, set your RSS feed for this blog site and let us know what is on your mind and what it is you would like to see from this blog. For our part, we will keep "you" in mind as we blog, and we'll strive hard to live up to the title of this blog post!
The Callahan Roach - Customer Assurance Pricing (CAP™) repair database saves the time and expense of maintaining a client's own repair database, allowing the client to concentrate on their core business - serving the customer.
Most importantly, CAP™ can determine the cost of doing quality service - including improvements to equipment, trucks and employee training - then establishes a labor rate that will ensure profits and growth for the company.
