Still Talking Business

 Wow! I can not believe that it has been 2 years since I posted. Why am I posting now, you might ask? Although Kevin and I have settled into retirement so well, leaving our former life behind, we still get into discussions about what we think we did right and what we could have done better. 

The other day we were having breakfast out at a new diner we've never been too. We had a great experience but as we were finishing our meal, we over heard a customer who was questioning something on his bill. As we watched the drama unfold, we realized that both the customer and the restaurant staff were very stressed out. The customer said he didn't want to argue (as he argued) and the manager was very direct and in no way offered to remove the item in question from the bill, which was only a couple of dollars. 

After Kevin and I got back to the car, we had a discussion about these sort of issues that came up in our business and the discussion went like this. I told Kevin that for years, before he joined working with me, when times were tough, I fought for every dollar. If someone had a complaint about their flowers or wanted their money back, I resisted doing anything other than trying to keep the money. I'm not proud of it but I knew where it was coming from. I was struggling financially and redelivering another arrangement or giving back money hurt more than I cared to admit. As time went on, I became tired of fighting back. I was worn out and just gave up. In doing so, I did whatever the customer wanted (within reason) and you know what happened? I felt less stressed, the customer was happy and my business became more financially successful. I realized that whether I was at falt or not, it didn't matter. Getting upset and loosing a customer was not working out so well. Once I gave up that attitude, everything changed. 

As Kevin and I drove home discussing what we had seen, I brought up a story that really stuck with me. It was probably during Covid, we had someone choose a purple orchid off our website to send to a friend. Our driver made the delivery and shortly after, I received a very upset call from the recipient. She told me that she hated the color purple, she insisted that her friend knew she hated purple and would never send that color orchid to her. What was my response? I told her, "I'm so sorry, there must have been a mix up and would she like me to switch it out with either a yellow orchid or a white one". She seemed rather surprised by my offer and said she'd really appreciate the white one. I told her I'd be there shortly and off I went in an extra van to make the switch. When I got there she was all smiles, thanked me profusely and happily took her white orchid. 

Now keep in mind, her friend had ordered the purple one. If the recipient sent a photo to the sender, it would look like we made an error so you might wonder what I did. I called the sender. I explained what exactly what had happened. I explained that I didn't want her to think that we had sent the wrong color and that the recipient was sure that her friend knew her pure hatred of the color purple. What did the sender think? She was so relieved that I saved her!! She was like "Oh my goodness, I had no idea, thank you so much for the making the switch". Honestly, both parties could not believe the wonderful customer service they had received. Did it take extra time? Sure, it did but we were in the business of helping both senders and recipients, and that's what we did. We made everyone happy and I'm sure we made loyal customers out of both and now the sender knew her friend hated purple for future gifts!! lol 

So back the manager at the diner. I totally understood where she was coming from. She is probably financially stretched and fighting for every dollar. Is that what she should do? No. The guy who swore that he didn't want to argue over a couple dollars, certainly wanted to argue and arguing only got him more upset. He certainly looked like the $2 was not going to ruin his day but it looked to me like he was going to let it. Two lessons in one. If a small business seems to be fighting for every dollar, they probably need it. If you can afford it, let them have it. It you say you don't want to argue, bring up the point, say ok and then move one. Both parties were wrong and both were left miserable. I doubt the customer would ever come back and the angry manager made all her staff defend themselves for charging the $2 extra. Nothing good came out of this interaction. 

Will Kevin and I go back to that diner? Of course, they should have been busier than they were. They had yummy food at a great price, wonderful service and that old world Jersey diner look. We left with a smile, a good tip and a promise to be back. 

It's times like that when I know we did the right thing by not becoming business consultants, which we thought about doing. Just hearing about business struggles and witnessing it first hand, brings back painful lessons. I'm always up for sharing advice when asked but I think for now, that's all I'm up for. Thanks for reading!!