Solve problems --- don’t tread on customers

January 5, 11:23 PMBusiness News ExaminerScott Gingold

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I’m the customer dammit!

Whether business conditions are good or bad, people and businesses never cease to amaze me. Two examples come to mind based on experiences I encountered today.

First, my son and I had lunch at a large sports bar/club. It’s the kind of place with a large game room, endless large screen televisions, pool tables, etc. My son has a reward card for this establishment. The last time that we were there we asked the server to check our balance. Though not fault of hers, she had no training on how to do this, and told us that we needed to see a manager. Unfortunately, no manager was available. On this visit we did find a manager who was very nice, but not very helpful ---  initially. He tried to log into my son’s account via the Internet, but ran into problems He advised us that we should call the vendor. Excuse me?!?!? I corrected him immediately! I advised him that THEIR vendor was NOT our vendor and he needed to work with them for resolution. He balked at first, but got the message after I told him that the vendor represented the image of their establishment.

Second, a close friend has an expensive SUV. A particular model that you do not see many of, at least in my area. He has had numerous problems with the vehicle and we’re working to get rid of it under the Lemon Law. The last time that the dealer serviced the vehicle the transfer drives badly scratched up the wheels. My friend brought the vehicle in last Monday as it was agreed on that the rims would be fixed. He was advised that it would take two days to repair as they needed to be sent out. As of today, they still have his vehicle. They blamed the holiday for the delay AND the fact that they cannot control the vendor. Excuse me?!?!?! Here too, they are an extension of that dealership.

Lesson of the day. If you use outside vendors to do ANY work for your firm, they are part of your company --- period! It is your responsibility to make sure that they are as timely, concerned, and committed as you and your people are. If you allow anything less, you are predestined for a massive failure.

This is one more reason to include your vendors as part of your customer insights research program.