Thursday, September 11, 2008

The Cat Came Back

Not the very next day and not actually a cat, but I digress. I am referring to one of my amazing disappearing special order customers that I talked about in this post. As it turns out, life did in fact get in the way and they returned, explained the absence and purchased their listing all in perfect order. I bring this up to share a little wisdom. When I feared that they were gone forever I had some choices to make, mostly regarding how I contacted the customer and what I said. I was quite put out at the time and I could have let that guide my communications, but I chose to maintain excellent customer service. I was straightforward, but I made sure that the customer would feel welcome to return should they change their mind.

This is really the lesson in all this. You cannot take these things personally and you should give your customers the benefit of the doubt. Though you need to look out for your own best interests, there is generally no good that comes from burning bridges. I am certainly glad that I did not lash out and was patient.

I though that this advice would take a little longer to share, but apparently it was a much simpler message than I thought. I have finally caught up from my little bout of fame on Monday. Everything has been remade and listed and now I am suffering from the inevitable letdown that occurs after any bit of excitement. Lucky for me, I have a whole house to clean and a couple of family requested projects to work on. I think I shall let my store sit for a while without any new designs, just for a change of pace. I hope this isn't a bad move, but I'm a little designed out for the time being.

1 comment:

jewelstreet said...

I think that is very good advice that everyone should remember even if they aren't in customer service.

Btw, those masks are AMAZING!