On Not Throwing Temper Tantrums

Today marks the end of an appalling, trivial and in the end positive experience for both myself and one of my customers. About two weeks ago I sold a copier to a local bank who after reviewing our price for said copier and finding our pricing and service plan being superior to their current vendors options, chose to do business with us versus their current (now former) vendor.

About a week after the installation of our machine and the removal of the competitors machine from our customers location, I received a phone call from my contact from this bank.

They told me they had just received a phone call from their now former copier vendor...

I sat dumfounded, jaw having hit the floor while listening to the tale of our competitors rant.

My customer explained to me how this gentleman angrily and sarcastically reprimanded my customer for choosing us over them saying something to the effect of "Who do you think you are? You buy your copiers from us! We are taking that machine out of your building!"

Of course this was an empty threat and they had no ability to remove the machine themselves.

As it turned it out, I had (unknowingly) sold a machine in another vendors territory and they could not compete with our price. So, the gentleman from this other vendor thought it would be wise to call and then yell at his (former)/my (current) customer...

While we did eventually remove the machine, it was replaced by a different brand of copier that was also bought from me.

The temper tantrum thrown by the childish sales "professional" from the vendor of whom we had submitted our proposal against accomplished them only one thing...

Loosing a customer.

This salesman's activities are a perfect illustration of how to shoot yourself in the foot...

It is never a good idea to verbally attack your customer.

While I would likely have taken the sale regardless of this gentleman's actions due to our ability to provide a better price for the hardware and CPC rate for service and supplies, his choice to go off the deep end is what ultimately sealed his fate.

Had he simply chosen to accept he had lost a sale and thank his customer for their consideration perhaps in the future he would have the opportunity to re-quote against us however, my contact made it known that their organization would no longer even consider doing business with our competitor due to the actions of the aforementioned gentleman.

Sure, it hurts to loose a sale and perhaps in some situations emotions such as those presented by my contemporary from our competitor are even justified to some extent, but to unleash those emotions on a customer...

There is no excuse.

Good Customer Service Still Exists

As someone who tries to embody good customer service, I have come to realize a few things...

It is apparent that in this day and age good customer service is a dying breed. That being said, it is also apparent that it is alive and well in some places scattered throughout my travels.

Above you will notice a picture of the Pilot Travel Center located just off of I-84 exit 1 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

As a big fan of the "Rockstar 2x" energy drinks, I often find myself here to purchase that very beverage. Energy drinks, food and gas here at Pilot are more expensive than many of the local gas stations I visit from time to time (most likely due to its location).

However I often choose to stop in for my caffeine fix here versus some of the other local gas stations because the customer service here is always very good and often times superior to other local gas stations.

All of the cashiers have been very kind to me and one in particular (Louise Vrabel) always greets me with a "good morning, how are you today?" accompanied by a smile and a compliment on the weather or recent events in addition to offering me savings on my purchase if there happens to be any good deals in relation to them.

This simple kindness and projection of positive energy and interest in customers well-being is something which I find lacking in many peoples approach to customer service these days.

The old saying "I may not remember your name but I will never forget how you make me feel" rings true in regards to all transactions from the gas station purchase to the signing and execution of a major managed print services contract.

This may sound trivial to you but I can assure you, a cashier who makes it a point to smile, take note of their return customers and make their short visit enjoyable is not always present in many similar establishments I have visited.

Another local gas station of whom I will not name has a couple similar employees...

They also have a gentleman who does his job well but simply does not poses a spirit of service towards the clientele. On numerous occasions one of his contemporaries has stopped me to ask if I would like to take advantage of "the buy one get one" deal on my preferred brand of energy drinks while this gentleman never even mentions the possibility.

It is only recently that he has made it a habit of saying "thanks" or "have a nice day" upon my exit, words of which it seems he has to struggle to get out.

While I hold nothing against this gentleman his demeanor is one reason I do at times choose to purchase my morning beverage from the Pilot store instead of the one at which he works. While the higher prices are enough to have me choose otherwise at times, I will often times choose to spend more for same product from a business who projects better customer service and positive energy.

Louise and the other cashiers quality of customer service at Pilot make the extra dollars worth it.

So if your ever in Sturbridge near I-84 stop by the Pilot Travel Center, the customer service alone is worth a visit.

Cigars As A Symbol Of Solution

AVO Robusto, my cigar of choice...

Some you may be aware of the fact that I am an avid cigar enthusiast.

For me, cigars have become a symbol of success both for myself and for my clients. I usually only smoke as a reward for implementing a solution for my clients whether it be a piece of hardware, a managed print services plan, software or so on and so forth.

While I am sure that I am not the only sales professional to use cigars in this fashion, I believe that I may be one of the few who approach the reward with the psychology that I do.

I don't give myself the pleasure of a cigar simply because I have made a big score financially. In fact the only element of my enjoyment of cigars as it relates to financial gain is in reference to the cost of the cigar itself.

As far as the ritual of smoking a cigar, for me it is a form of mediation and a time of relaxation. During these times I like to go over what I have achieved in reference to bettering my customers business through the solution I have provided them.

Often times each puff is accompanied by thoughts of how I have helped a client reduce their cost of printing, streamline their business processes and or provided them with useful equipment, software or content of which makes their professional and business lives better.

I like to go over the intricacies of the benefits I have given a client as the cigar burns closer to its finish. As the cigar burns, I reflect on elements such as the cost per click of a clients new machine, the ways in which our managed print services program is now saving them time and money and how I have been able to make a clients document management endeavors more profitable and efficient for their organization.

As I enjoy my cigar with wisps of smoke curling around my immediate space, I often ponder how to improve their business, the office or industrial culture around them, their company and or their organization.

In fact I try to use all of those things which I enjoy or find pleasurable (at least to some extent) as a catalyst to help others. Whether it be my clients, friends, family or even passerby's and strangers, I try to make consistent and focused conscious efforts in all that I do to help others.

It is in this kind of psycho-spiritual awareness that I attempt to keep my daily mindfulness, focused on the well being of other human beings.

In this way I would like to think that I am a living conduit of positive energy. So whether I am smoking a cigar, writing a blog post or doing virtually any other activity I try to do it with a spirit of love and service towards others.

In this way I believe that I am accomplishing what a human is meant to do. Indeed I hope that this very post has inspired you to do the same or in the very least has had some positive effect on you.

I suppose in some respects this is how I try to manifest the concept of "agape" in my own life and also in the lives of those people whom I meet during my existence on planet earth.

Are Your Customers Fans?

As many of you know I play in the New England based Jamband Jabooda.

While the atmosphere, culture and people surrounding the band is about as far from the corporate/business realm as one could possibly get, the parallels in customer service, marketing and sales is astoundingly similar as is the work ethic involved. The band truly is, a second job.

In the band we place heavy responsibilities on our shoulders in regards to treating our fans (customers) like gold. While we do sell products to our fans we also give many of our live recordings and merchandise away for free as a thank you for their dedication and support. We put hundreds of hours into rehearsals in hopes to make sure that our fans get their moneys worth and we treat each of our fans as both human beings and friends.

In my role as a sales and marketing professional at Expert Laser Services I try to manifest the same dedication in my customers by catalyzing a similar energy to that which I have on stage. The hope is that my customers will truly become fans.

While I don't give away free cds or t-shirts to prospects I have at times given them a toner cartridge for free because I believe in the products my company produces and sells and I know that in certain cases, giving something away will turn a profit and act as a conduit for a positive relationship with that person who in the end, will truly become a fan of our products and services.

In the same way that a soaring guitar solo is at times pushed to its peak even as the muscles in the guitarists hands seem that they will give out from pain, such a sacrifice will almost certainly draw an intense return on investment in the form of ecstatic emotion derived from the crowd. I truly believe that offering unconventional services such as help desk calls after hours, last minute emergency parts delivery or repair calls and so on and so forth (which can be an intense personal burden on myself or other employees at my company depending on the situation) this kind of self sacrifice provides a similar feeling of gratitude to that of the aforementioned guitarist. Sometimes truly great customer service requires that we take added stress and burdens upon ourselves in order to provide the absolute best for our customers.

I can honestly the say that the labor of love as mentioned above is the key to success for both my company and my band. Expert Laser Services emphasis on advanced and caring customer service is what separates us from our competitors both large and small.

In the end, it is not hype or a robust marketing scheme that makes you a literal and or metaphorical rock star. It is the lengths that you are willing to go for your people. It is the actions that you are willing to make in order for your customers to truly become a die hard, dedicated and loving fanbase.

Customer Vlog Interview

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Think Globally Smash Printers Locally

The above video is in my opinion, a true classic of printer destruction. First introduced to me by Mark Schaefer, author of the {grow} marketing blog, this video is by no means new.

The clip is at once a testament to the fact that poor customer service is not only unacceptable in this day and age but also that in a world with Youtube, the backlash is unavoidable and rightly so.

As an avid fan of this clip you can imagine my surprise when an employee of Fall Prevention Alarms (a customer of ours) suggested that we check out this video. As it turns out the Solider in the clip is a friend of the folks at this company.

This small world connection was made when a gentleman from the above business stopped into purchase some of our own remanufactured toner cartridges and noticed a flyer on the desk of our receptionist left over from the first destroy your printer contest.

Sure enough he could also relate to the bane of laser printer related stress and said he is considering entering our third annual destroy your printer contest.