WoW - Good Business is GOOD BUSINESS
My goal with this series is not to discourage anyone, but to encourage everyone that we can be the community we have long thought ourselves to be - we just have to work together. None of us is in this alone. Alone is no place to be anyway. It is TOGETHER where our strength lies. TOGETHER is where our biggest change takes place. When we decide TOGETHER to be better - we WILL be better. This isn't something that has to take decades. If we all commit to changing now - this can happen virtually overnight.
There are some simple Good Business Principles that any, every, and ALL Auburn Gresham businesses can adopt right now - no growing pains needed.
1) Welcome your customers to your establishment. Make sure that you and your employees let your customers know that you appreciate that they are shopping with YOU when they could be shppoing somewhere else (say, with a competitor of yours). When they choose to do business with you - acknowledge that.
2) Be courteous and respectful. If a customer is telling you or your employee that they have had or are having a bad experience with your company or your emplyees - first, ACKNOWLEDGE it. No matter whose fault the bad experience is - offer an apology. Saying something as simple as "I'm sorry that your experience with us wasn't what you expected" can go a long way. And follow that up with some kind of real, honorable action or resolution, "Let me see if I can replace your faulty item or give you a refund."
3) Follow through with your resolutions. If your company or employees clearly didn't do what was paid for or promised - acknowledge that up front. Offer a full refund. If you don't offer refunds (and I don't know why you wouldn't), you need to make sure your customer is served satisfactorily in some other equally comparable way. Offer to replace what was broken, redo the meal or service at no charge, give a rebate coupon covering the cost for a similar service or issue a raincheck for items promised, but not in the store. You cannot take your customer's money for services that wasn't provided and just leave it at that. You wouldn't want to pay for something you didn't get so why should your customer. Remember the Rs! Refund. Replace. Redo. Rebate. or Raincheck!
4) Employee Attitude. This is probably the biggest area for improvement. If your employees need coaching or training on how to interact with customers - provide this. It can ONLY help your business in the long run. Your employees should never ever treat your customers like their friends, children, pets, or family. They should never swear at customers, call them names, or exhibit behavior that is rude and crass. They should not take personal calls at work or discuss private or pesonal in front of customers - this is what lunch and other breaks are for. Remind your employees to be professional in speech and conduct.
5) Cleanliness is always appropriate. I can't tell you how many businesses I've been to that I've had a bad experience with before I've even ordered. Make sure you designate someone to keep the sidewalk, floors, windows, tables, utensils, and bathrooms CLEAN. If your employees don't want to do it - give a neighborhood kid $20 a week to come out and do it - our youth need opportunities to make honest spending money. It's a win/win situation.
Make sure whomever you hire - that you make sure they know and practice the Auburn Gresham Good Business Guide. Remember - we want to encourage economic growth. We want to attract development. And we want to change people's minds about our community and make sure that a bad experience here is the exception - not the rule. In Auburn Gresham -
