Lacking inspiration for my blog, I was saved by something of a serendipity (I love that word) moment yesterday morning, igniting thoughts about how we respond to customers and clients.

The big decision I’d been weighing up was where to buy my Sunday newspaper. Options including a branch of a national supermarket chain, a petrol station or a family run ‘convenience’ shop, all involved a walk of a 20 minute round trip. This is where my thought process and reasoning proved to take a wrong turn. Deciding to support ‘local’,

I chose the family store.

I arrived 15 minutes before a mid-day closing time. As the sign on the door showed ‘Open’ and the door wasn’t locked, I assumed optimistically that the shop was actually still open for business. My bright ‘good morning’ to the family staff who were all gathered around the till chatting, received the response ‘We’re closed’.

Eyeing the stack of unsold newspapers, I pressed ahead regardless, explaining that I only wanted to buy a Mail on Sunday. (Please no negative comments, we don’t all read the broadsheets). Louder this time, accompanied by a scowl, the words ‘We’re closed’ were repeated.

Like a snappy little dog, holding on to someone’s trouser leg, I didn’t give way. I pointed to the ‘Open’ sign on the door and the fact that I’d made it into the shop before closing time with 15 minutes to spare. No giving way. On their part unfortunately, not mine. I left; muttering that I’d go elsewhere, which still didn’t appear to have any affect. My custom wasn’t needed, or important to them. I didn’t matter and the staff really weren’t bothered whether I ever came back. I’d been rejected from the shop. Not physically of course, but I might well have been if I’d stayed to protest any longer!

Now, where has this left me? I’ll never go back. The family owners may not see this as much of a loss, as after all, the revenue from one Sunday newspaper isn’t a great deal to lose is it? But what if the service had been so friendly and welcoming that I’d decided to regularly spend a good proportion of my weekly food budget there and recommended them to friends, family and neighbours? Negative word of mouth spreads rapidly, even faster if you Tweet it! A business succeeds or fails largely on the quality of the communication between supplier and customer. 90% of dissatisfied clients won’t return and it’s believed that 12 positive comments are needed to make up for one negative experience.

We often believe that large organisations fail to offer a friendly and personal service where smaller independent companies excel. Being put on hold by an automated voice message or hearing that the ‘computer says no’, isn’t something we expect from good customer service. We like personal and prompt attention, being offered that little something extra. Most future business can be won or lost from the initial point of contact and if this falls at the first hurdle it’s a missed opportunity for companies to benefit over competitors by being able to show they actually care about the client.

As the Al Jolson song goes “I’d walk a million miles for one of your smiles”. I’d have certainly walked the half mile for a friendlier response to my request for a newspaper, but then a disgruntled customer is hardly headline news as far as the vendors were concerned and they’ve probably forgotten all about me.

Take it from me though, I won’t forget them.