#70 – Caring for Challenging Customers, a Nifty Web Tool to Convert PDF Documents to Word, and a BIG Marketing Lesson from Hyatt Hotels. “Help! My Business Sucks!” with Andrew Lock
August 25, 2009Episode #70 – “Apparently, Common Sense isn’t that Common” 
Websites and resources mentioned in the show:
Infusion (Download the free guide from Infusion)
Outsourcing Webinar with John Jonas (replay)
PDF to Word (Converts PDF acrobat documents to editable Word or RTF formats)
NiftyClicks (Discover the very latest web tools and resources)
Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)
Buy This Week’s T-Shirt (from National Media Services)
For all those people who can’t figure out how to wrap a towel around themselves, some bright spark has come up with the ‘wearable towel’ – the towel with arm openings! Whatever will they sell next? Is existing towel technology really that hard to figure out?! Check out the promo video in the show, and let me know if YOU would buy one.
There’s a profitable scam going around from “Domain Renewal Group”. They try to get you to renew your existing domains with them, even though you’ve never done business with them before. Watch out for that one!
GotBiz.tv is officially launching 9-9-09, and this week I show you the brand new trailer promoting GotBiz.tv. I’m excited to launch this new network for you, especially as all the shows will be free.
The outsourcing webinar with John Jonas is Wednesday August 26, at 9pm EST – you can view it by here: Outsourcing Webinar
The question this week is all about problem customers. What would you do in the situation described? Let me know by posting a comment below.
I’m impressed with PDFtoWord.com, a free online service that converts PDF files to editable Word or rich text format documents. Very cool.
There’s a new section of the show this week! It’s called ‘Success Stories’ and each week I’ll be featuring someone who has taken positive action from what they’ve learned from the show. You can win a cool prize from my travels – just submit your story using the ‘ask andrew’ link at the top of the page.
The BIG marketing lesson comes from Hyatt hotels who are using social media to engage with their customers – specifically in this example, it’s Twitter. See how you can use the same idea in your business. Look for creative ways to enagage with YOUR customers.
If you’d like to share YOUR favorite little known website, simply write a comment below!
Enjoy the show!
Regards,
August 26th, 2009 at 4:05 am
Hi Andrew
Thought the towel robe was hilarious, I would have bought one but you have forgotten to put a link in the show notes.
Regards
Mark
August 26th, 2009 at 4:20 am
Definitely wouldn’t buy one of those towel things. Gotbiz.tv looks pretty exciting. Can’t wait. The success prize is hilarious.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I ordered a big box of signs from a company once and what they shipped me were all too big. I was annoyed with the company because I knew I ordered a smaller size sign. Their first response was to ask me if I wanted to keep the larger signs at a discounted price. When I replied that they were too big for my purpose, they cheerfully refunded my money AND asked me to send the signs back. The signs had my company name and phone number all over them, so they were no good to anyone else and certainly were bound for the dumpster, but I had no problem returning them since I wasn’t charged for them. John’s customer is being unreasonable to keep the product. John should demand the return of the product or charge her for it.
August 26th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Hi Andrew,
I can’t imagine anyone going to use the towel robe. Curious to see the reactions in the Dragon’s Den if this product would be pitched.
Advise on the dissatisfied customer: listen to her, find out what the real reason is for her frustration. I’m convinced that an authentic interest in her would clear the air. Good luck!
August 26th, 2009 at 5:32 am
My opinion is that the sign maker should NOT refund the money for the custom made sign to this particular woman. She obviously is trying to take advantage of him. The proof is that she wants to keep her sign. Apparently, she’s upset enough to want her money back, but is still interested in keeping the sign. The proof is in that simple equation. She’s a scam artist in my opinion and even though it might not normally be a good idea to refuse a refund, in this instance, that’s what I would do. Good luck John. Next time, make up an iron clad contract that says something to the effect that once the customer has approved the sketch or computer driven image of a sign, they’re then obligated to keep it without recourse so long as the sign is substantially in keeping with the sketch.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Great episode Andrew – as always! First, I have to admit that I’m one of those people who probably WOULD buy the towel. It’s more useful than a pet rock!
As for John’s sign problem, it’s hard to tell if she is scamming or not. I was brought up in the school of ‘the customer is always right’ but that doesn’t mean you can’t get something of value in return. How about allowing her to keep the sign in exchange for a positive testimonial that states something like, “John went the extra mile in satisfying my needs. I highly recommend him for your sign needs.”
John is the only one who can answer the cost:benefit ratio of between the loss of income versus the damage she can do by negative word of mouth publicity. Good luck John!
Thanks again Andrew!
August 26th, 2009 at 8:51 am
The answer for John is obvious. Send the disgruntled customer a set of the Wearable Towels.
Great show Andrew!
August 26th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I would probably buy the towel, perhaps as a unique present,
To me John,s problem come down to a matter of cost. If the sign is worth less than $50, he is prbably better off just forgetting about it, and spreading th eword among his colleagues so that they are alerted. I like the idea of a testimonial in return for the sign. It would certainly put an end to her “mouthng off” – maybe, but at least you have an answer!
August 26th, 2009 at 9:18 am
That video of the wearable towel is a keeper to file into ‘the insanity’ department. What makes someone really think the development of this (ahem) product really brings to bear an increase in goodwill, value and life-enhancement to its user. Breaking down the process in the mind of the people behind this would be a fascinating post-mortem – I would sense hubris, a palpable greed and ill-concern for the market at large would be in the arena.
That said, I have duly shared it w/ my list on Twitter and pray no sales are incurred as a result. ;-P The karmic backswing could knock me out cold.
As for the customer service question, it would have helped to know what it was the customer was sold and service provided…. a bit – but the principle is clear – at least for me. The customer is NOT always right and, in fact, sometimes can be truly the furthest thing from it. There are bad people in the mix of our days, fortunately not often but we need to be prepared, have policies set to deal with situations like this. WHy? Because, every now and then, they saunter into our businesses and we have to deal with them.
Ideally, our USPs and vision for our marketplace filters these folks out and keeps at a minimum. (ALSO, in your case, a clear guarantee – that’s another issue) Here, for this business, I sense this is someone who is just ‘not a good person’(at least inside this situation) and it is in their nature to see how far they can get to push their own self-interest. I would counsel, don’t worry about any fall out from such a person – they move quickly to their next prey once the flesh from their latest bone is devoured enough.
Do NOT give them the product at a discount – you cheapen your services and send a message that you are weak with the principle of what value you attach to what you do. Your employees are watching too – take note. She said she wanted a refund and was unhappy. (and then sensed some hesitation or fear from you with your response, I’m guessing).
Say: “Fine, it happens rarely – we’re so very, very sorry. Let us take care of you immediately. Here is your money back” and –this is key —- provide her with some other resources to procure eventual happiness – with a competitor, or someone other useful sites. Leave her enriched and a bit more empowered on her journey for what it is you sell.
and….BE DONE WITH HER. Fully delete her in your database as a ‘no contact’ and note the issue for people in your company down the line if she surfaces again.
She is not a customer that builds long-term value for you – you mention she’s a ‘pass-through’, one timer. She deserves no further effort in your day other than doing the above.
My , arguably, harsh but sensible opinion.
Last, let a clear policy come out this, as well. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Let your employees know your rationale(this is a learning opportunity) – let that sift out so they get a sense of your own values as you are guiding your company with. Let know you back them up when a customer accuses them of something, too. They will pick up invaluable cues to bring into their own encounters and areas of empowerment in their work responsibilities.
Post here and let us know what it is your sell and how you resolved it!
Bruce Brodeen
http://www.notlame.com
August 26th, 2009 at 9:40 am
He should let her keep the item and issue her a credit to use on future orders
August 26th, 2009 at 10:24 am
That towel…what a laugh. The answer to your question is a simple “no.” I would NOT buy one.
I don’t spend enough time in my bath towels, or beach towels, to warrant the expense!
Regarding John’s challenging customer: I’m in complete agreement with Bruce – “release her, with a recommendation. Her money? Let it go.
The signage? Release that too!…and, as Bruce says, “be done with her!”
She is, an exception, unworthy of your time and energy.
Thanks again, Andrew, for another wonderful episode.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I bet the creator of the towel had a really embarrasing incident and thought “How could I prevent this from happening again?”
I find it to be creative, funny and dumb at the same time.
Great episode.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
While I don’t think I have enough information about John’s situation to really comment (e.g., wholesale cost of the sigh, validity of the complaint, etc.), I have found that some people’s business simply isn’t worth keeping.
I probably kick a dozen or so people out of the practice each year. Having my staff be miserable isn’t worth it. I also figure that perhaps I’ll get lucky and they’ll tell their equally annoying friends to not visit us!
August 26th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
To the Wearable Towel marketers: extremely weird idea. Sure we’ll wear this with our friends … NOT! Yeah, the guy looks cool wearing a toga towel … NOT! (let’s bet on how many they will sell in the first 12 months)
To John: Make your dissatisfied customer feel great about herself and sell too her again.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I would buy a wearable towel… except that it reminds me of that ridiculous Snuggy backwards robe blanket thingy. But those seem to be selling fine.
As far as the signs… One comment above summed it up pretty well… find out what the real problem is. In the end it may cost him a little money, but a happy customer is a great advertisement. Example: I accidentally put one of my personal movies in the return for Netflix when I realized it I called and they immediately refunded me $9.99 so I could go out and purchase a new copy of the movie AND they will look for my movie as well and either way I get to keep the $10. Now the inconvenience of me being stupid and them not being able to just send me back my movie is way out weighed by the quick and more than fair response.
Another example: I was listening to Gary Vaynerchucks podcast and he swore on it, which I could handle but it was not marked explicit and my 5 year old son was in the room. Upset I quickly send Gary an email and expressed, nicely, my disappointment. With in 30 minutes Gary called me directly and apologized. I was so overwhelmed by his sincerity that I completely forgave and forgot and am now a loyal listener and will buy his new book coming out. The next day the same thing happened with another podcast, name withheld, so, inspired by the previous days encounter I sent of another email. This time I was slammed for being too sensitive and judgmental. Needless to say I have nothing to do with anyone near that podcast.
So to make a long story short, TOO LATE! Do everything you can to please the customer. You can choose not to do business with them in the future, refer them to the competition… but make sure they leave happy.
August 26th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Regarding John,
I think he should just give her the sign and the money, but make it clear to her that he will not be doing business with her any further. It is hard to please every customer, but you should try your best.
August 26th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Regardin John,
I won’t ask a testimonial to an unsatisfied customer. Do you really believe she’ll say “I recommend John for the wonderful service quality…” ?
Customer is not always right, but the key is not to know who’s right or not, it’s to deal with an unsatisfied customer.
If she wants to keep the “thing” that John sold her, it means that she’s satisfied by that “thing”.
Good starting point !
As her to write down her insatisfaction, and tell her it’s really valuable for you, that you’ll communicate her insatisfaction to your colleagues, so that next time she’ll come to buy something, she’ll get the best service possible.
Now tell her kindly that what she bought is not free, and that if she wants to keep it, she’ll have to pay for it.
August 26th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
My Spidey Senses are tingling Batman re: John Jonas,
Andrew, thank you for the outsourcng webinar it was really interesting overall. However, my Spidey senses are tingling regarding the requirement to access Best Jobs VAs only via John’s site. I am generally not a cynic, but this is the reason I am a little concerned:
1- I listened to John on another podcast a couple of months ago and he refused to mention the site where he hires his VA’s to listeners b/c he said it was becoming difficult for him to find good candidates anymore and he was basically giving the info away for free. He mentioned, on this same podcast that if people wanted to get the VA info, they would have to become members of his site.
2- It appears, through his own admission, that he is 80% of Best Jobs’s revenue! Hmm, can we say leverage? I THINK HE HAS PROBABLY STRUCK AN AGREEMENT, NOT THAT THE SITE IS CLOSED TO NEW CUSTOMERS, TO DRIVE TRAFFIC THROUGH HIS SITE SO HE NOW GETS A PIECE OF THE ACTION. What growing, leading business shuts off access to new customers in this economy? I’m not buying it. I’m not saying, I’m just saying. If this is the case, I think it is tacky and shady. He could just set up an affiliate program and be honest. What do you think? Should I have the old Spidey senses checked out?
August 27th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Hi Em,
I understand your concern, but John has no agreement with BestJobs, in fact he is genuinely baffled as to why they’re being so uncooperative.
John has worked hard to develop his system that works well for outsourcing, so he has every right to charge a fee for that knowedge and access in my opinion. Also, his program includes training videos to bring outsource workers up to speed.
Regards
Andrew
August 27th, 2009 at 3:17 am
We are living in a time where people want every thing for nothing. Return the sign for refund or keep the sign and pay for what was ordered.
I deal with peole every day wanting every thing for nothing. They dont care about the buisness cost to produce and operate.
Now we all do have great customers that make haveing a store fornt great to own.
August 27th, 2009 at 6:12 am
I agree with Sean, the nice lady can either keep the sign OR get a refund. Not both.
I also agree with Ted’s point, John should really have made it clear beyond any argument that a custom order (and how many signs aren’t custom?!) is not refundable, period, after the customer “clicks here”…
Freakin’ customers. Who needs ‘em!? Oh, wait…
Great show Andrew, glad I Stumbled upon it.
August 27th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I like the towel and depending on how much it costs I probably would buy one .
As for the unsatisfied customer,either refund and return or nothing at all.
By the way good show .I will watch again!
August 27th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Appreciate your quick reply Andrew. I am a big fan.
Overall it was a very informative show with good tips so it had me very interested in John’s program. But as I mentioned, it seemed a bit fishy since listening to the other podcast. Thanks for the validation.
August 27th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Andrew — I tried the Nifty Click for PDF-to-Word conversion and it “failed.” I gave them a less-than 2MB file and they claimed:
“Success converting PDF ‘friendfeed-PDF.pdf.’ Conversion results were too large to attach: 12MB (limit is 8MB). Please consider trying the trial version of our desktop product instead.”
So they offered a 30 day trial of their desktop software. Hmmm . . .
Now, they could provided me a zipped file — or put up a short-duration page on the web and sent me its URL so I could download, but, no…
Is their “free service” simply a come-on? I smell bait-and-switch. Has anyone else tried it?
Oh ya — the towel is in the “as seen on TV” category.
About the sign customer, I agree with John “…listen to her, find out what the real reason is for her frustration” and go on from there. Only the dissatified ones bitch — consider what she can do to your company’s reputation via today’s social media where bitch has reach.
August 27th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
This show is hilarious. Holds a lot of vital information that could be useful to a lot of employers and employees alike. I love the wearable towel! LOL
August 27th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I think the towel idea is cool. Depending upon how much it costs, I might actually buy one. lol! I think the customer needs to return the signs for the money back or no refund period.
August 28th, 2009 at 3:00 am
We like the towel idea. Very helpful.
Customer service is an art, a balancing act. Take the loss on the signs. Give her the money back. It is up to you to let her keep the signs or not. But it might be good to do something that she does not expect, give her a parting gift, a gift certificate to go out to eat or something else. With a note saying sorry for your inconvenience, have dinner on us.
It will be unexpected and you never know the reaction when they get something unexpected. She might end up being one of your most loyal customers and send you even more customers than anyone else. Or she will not come back but she is not bad mouthing you to other people.
Give her a referral to someone else that can help her out with her needs.
You will not need to do this much. Not many people want to keep the product and want the money back as well.
Good luck to you. Hope it all works out to your best interest. Have a good day.
Thank you for yet another great post, Andrew.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
August 28th, 2009 at 9:06 am
I was laughing when I saw this episode, because I actually have the Wearable Towel!!! I gotta tell you – they are pretty great. At first my wife and I got them as kind of as a joke, but once we used them we see why it’s such an amazing idea. My wife wears hers around the house after taking a shower and when she’s getting ready to go out, and I throw it on after swimming in the pool. i dont have the physique i once did, and the wearable towel seems to cover the parts that I dont want being displayed for all to see…. without having to put a shirt on.
we bought ours online at http://www.wearabletowel.com (since some people mentioned they dont know where to get them).
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August 29th, 2009 at 10:29 am
The things said above looks to be more helpful to all kind of peoples and to concentrate on things.The new type of towel may be more useful in all kinds and its more easy to put and wear so i requests all the persons to buy those things. Then it may be more stiff to persons an then can walk or run without any doubts that the towel may fell or not.From my concern its more different from all others.
August 29th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
The wearable towel idea is so good that I my eyes were locked to the video. I might buy one.
Oh, BTW, thank you for introducing the PDFtoWord.com. Now I know where to go to convert my pdf files.
August 30th, 2009 at 10:34 am
First, THANK YOU for all the great feedback. Customer Service is so important and gray areas like this situation cannot always be easily handled.
THE STORY SO FAR:
She placed her order for yard signs, paid for it, and we created her proof.
It was our mistake that the proof did not show that there would be a empty border on the sign as it would be printed. Customer approved the proof, and the signs were made with required border. See signs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22355113@N06/3865285473/
Upon picking them up, she immediately noticed the difference. As we are unable to produce the signs without the border (otherwise we would have redone them gratis), she was emphatic about receiving compensation for the discrepancy. We assured her that it was our fault and she would be compensated, and she left with her signs.
We emailed her a coupon worth 20% off her next purchase, and apologized profusely.
Customer then replied with a torrent of claims against our product, service, people, etc., and asked for 20% to be returned directly to her credit card, because she wouldn’t be doing business with us again.
We thanked customer for her feedback, apologized once again for our mistake, and offered a FULL refund if the customer returned the signs.
This is the response that made me “Ask Andrew” for help: she is using the merchandise and will be happy to take a 40-50% discount. Believes she is an excellent customer and thinks it will work the next round. Committed to doing business in Austin and is proud that we stand behind our product.
Based on all your feedback, we re-stated our original offer: 20% discount on her next order, or a FULL refund upon return of the product.
HER RESPONSE AMAZED US!
She said some nice things about the product and our service, and looked forward to using her 20% coupon the next time she needed signs!
Baffled but relieved at her response, I again would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and ideas.
Thanks, Andrew!
August 31st, 2009 at 12:48 am
I would not wear a towel either. I like your website Andrew, I am bookmarking it now. Starting a business has been a dream of mine for years. I will be returning soon.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:51 am
That lady that wanted her money back and to keep the order is crazy! He should either not give her the refund or make her send back the order! I think she is trying to scam him!!
August 31st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
The video clearly sorts out the do’s and dont’s for all marketing lovers. I think of going on for an internet marketing and this vidoe helped me to make correct decisions. Moreover, the presentation by this person, really amazing.Thanks For this video and to Andrew>!!
August 31st, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I already know how to wrap a towel around myself, and do not consider a TOWEL appropriate wear “for those informal family gatherings,” either. If it’s that hard to put on some clothing, it’s probably also too hard to handle the cutlery at dinner. RE: the sign return, it sounds as though the woman likes the sign (otherwise why should she want to display it publicly?) The sign maker should insist upon the return of the sign and give full refund; do not do partial refund and let her keep the sign, because it sounds to me as though she is not dealing with you honestly.
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September 1st, 2009 at 8:54 am
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September 1st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
John’s customer reminds me of several of my own customers in the long-ago days when I was a food server. Every few months, a customer would eat his/her meal down to the last bite, then “find” a hair and ask for the manager. It irked us servers to no end that our manager would ALWAYS comp the meal (and we’d get no tip!) Then, a new manager was hired who did NOT subscribe to “the customer is always right” belief. He was nice about it, but refused to comp most of the meals. Yes, it may have negatively affected our business, but not enough to put us out of business! I worked for this restaurant in 1983, and it’s still around today!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:39 pm
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September 1st, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Well, the wearable towel is a good idea and surely i’ll try out this one.. I might buy one within a month and try to comment after using it.. a very good video.. keep up the good work.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Definitely it is a unique towel to wear and one man explaining is perfectly good compeer.Live demo is a healthy means of advertising carry on!!!!.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for sharing those interesting details about outsourcing and I am impressed with how a business can really gain a lot more easier earning through excellent projects done through the help of trained staff.
As also been part of my experience, another website have taught me to find ways on how to leverage time and bring automation into internet marketing business easily. I found this idea from a friend which sent me this website http://www.massoutsource.com
It also has loads of information about the process of outsourcing and in my opinion, these free videos offered by this young Australian guy is really worth watching for and inspiring.
I hope this can also be one of your good resources in the future.