“The
customer IS ALWAYS right” is firmly rooted in retail mythology. Another hoary
axiom, “A happy customer will tell four or five people about their good
experience. An unhappy customer will tell twenty or more people about their bad
experience, and will do so for years”. As it applies to retailing automobiles,
an endeavor that I spent some three decades making ends meet, it is horseshit.
Take the
unhappy customer. Most everyone who knows them is already tired of their whiny ways
and they have little or no creditability with the people in their circle.
Unhappy
customers in the car business are referred to as “heat”. One of the best at
fading heat was a young manager in Renton, WA. I learned his way and used it
for years. As an aside, he was many years my junior. I don’t care what age
someone is. If they have a better way of doing something, I want to learn. Let
my ego get in the way of my washout check? I don’t think so. John would let the
customer vent, and then would ask, “Your are really angry, aren’t you”?
“Damn
right,” the customer would reply.
“Well,” John
would then say, “It isn’t going to cost my anything to keep you angry, is it?”
This would usually cause the customer’s jaw to drop and a stunned look in the
face.
“You are out
telling everyone what bad people we are at Rip Your Guts Out Motors. So what
incentive do I have to do anything for you?” John would ask.
Several
moments of dead silence would happen, usually followed by some very subdued
remark or question by the customer.
After the
long pause, John would say, “What needs to be done so that you will start
saying good things about Rip Your Guts Out Motors?” Many times, after the
customer realized he wasn’t dealing from a position of strength, something
could be worked out. Or not, life goes on.
Another
manager used his size and demeanor to take control. Dan had been, among other
occupations, a bouncer at a titty bar. The moment a customer started raising
his voice; Dan would glare at them and say,
“Don’t give
me an attitude. I want to solve your problem, but if you are going to give me
an attitude, leave right now.”
A fond
memory was the time I ran a two man store. The owner spent his time finding
inventory and making it saleable. I did the selling and financing. One day
while Russ was in the store doing paperwork, I was dealing with a belligerent
bully who thought he could intimidate me into making concessions.
“Fuck you, I
want to talk to the owner,” bellowed out the customer.
“I’m the
owner” said Russ from across the room. As the customer turned to look at him,
Russ continued, “One of the great things about owning a business is I can tell
miserable assholes like you to get the fuck out of my store and never come
back.”
By now, if
you are still reading, you think I’m about two bubbles off plumb. Here is the
point. Everyone who comes into your place of business can be a positive,
neutral or negative influence on your business. All need to be treated with
courtesy and respect. As an example, I watched a manager with an employment
applicant toss the application in a wastebasket in front of the applicant
saying, “Why are your wasting our time?” with a sneer.
I walked over and fired
the manager on the spot. He protested, so I encouraged him physically to leave
the premises. Since he was the owner’s son, he didn’t think I was in a position
to fire him. Once Daddy heard the details, Sonny found out that yes, I could
fire him, and why didn’t I kick his ass at the same time?
They want to
use the restroom? Right this way. Someone cold calling? We have a time one day
each week that we will listen to anyone’s presentation. All these miscellaneous
annoyances come with the territory. It is the belligerent bullies and miserable
assholes that cross the line that need to, and will, be shown the mistletoe on
your coattails. Mr., or Ms. Manager,
just like you expect the staff to ride for the brand, you better have the backs
of those riding for you. If you don’t have the guts, get out! Yes, it takes
guts to be a good manager.
A final
thought. Retail is somewhat like combat, except, you rarely get shot at, and
the wounds are emotional and financial. Just like combat, you have a whole
shitload of REMFs wanting to question and/or direct your work. Again, Mr. or
Ms. Manager, you must keep these REMFs out of your sale staff’s daily
endeavors. They are there to sell. Unless they are on salary, that is all they
should be doing. You must be a firewall between them and the salaried
administrative types.
Now, I do
admire those who can tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look
forward to the trip. Truly, I do admire that ability. I don’t have it, never
had it, and wasn’t interested in developing it. One General Manager I worked
for said, “Tank has all the subtlety of a D-9 bulldozer at full throttle.”
Despite that, he paid me large sums for several years to do the job he wanted,
and, stayed the hell out my way. Results, cupcake, results.
Sometimes the customer wins. I’ve told this story in a past blog, but will repeat it. We had branched out from retailing automobiles to representing an engine rebuilder, and I made a cold call on a shop in Colorado Springs. The owner told me about a past experience with the rebuilder involving a defective remanufactured cylinder head and how he was rudely instructed to return it, properly packaged, to receive credit. His choice of packing material was horse manure. As he was telling his story, his staff had gathered around. When he finished, he just looked at me with a, “What are you going to do now, Bubba” look. Me? I just started laughing. What else could I do? It was funny as hell and appropriate.
And when is
the customer usually right? When their approach to the problem is calm and
civil. Then you don't end up like this.
