Persistence Works!

We're told repeatedly that persistence pays, that the successful few win out over the unsuccessful many because of their persistent pursuit of whatever they focus on.

So here's a practical example:

For the past week, I've returned daily, every weekday, to a lady who hadn't had a chance to look properly at the Kleeneze catalogues. I also tried, every weekday, to collect a straggler catalogue from one of her neighbours, who would never answer the door.

Today, I got orders from both of them. I've also made two new friends, not customers. And I got two new friends because I gave them time to trust me; I turned up when I said I would, I gave them the space and honesty they needed.

All I did was be me. It's all I do with any of my customers. It's all I need to do.

And it's proof positive of something I do my best to live by:

Do what you say you'll do, when you say you'll do it; even if you don't want to.

I love this business!

Personality Power - The Kleeneze Lady Way

Over on my other blog, I've written about the power of your personality and the importance of living life according to your values.

In the past couple of days, I got a nice reminder of just how valuable that is.

On Friday, I finally managed to deliver an order to a new customer. After a number of texts re-arranging a date and time, I arrived at her house to be invited in to the garden for a much appreciated glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. We spent a lovely 45 minutes discussing elements of our lives and I left with a warm glow that wasn't alcohol induced.

I also know a lot more about the current issues facing the public sector, which has left me much more sympathetic to the problems they face regarding pension contribution increases, etc. Not everybody has sufficient disposable income to cope with having to pay more into their pensions to realise the same projected value, which means many will have reduced pensions.

On Sunday, I accompanied my mother to the wettest hog roast I hope to experience. Whilst there, I was greeted with genuine friendship by Gwen Hotten, Rugby's Mayor, who I haven't seen for years.

I must be doing something right if I generate that sort of goodwill in both complete strangers and old friends.

I choose to believe that it's my personal values shining through. It's a great confidence booster, too!

Kleeneze Supports Rural Communities

At a time when local councils are cutting their budgets, which means village residents can no longer rely on their, admittedly limited, range of public transport - it's nice to know that we're there to help.

My online Kleeneze shop is available to anyone living in the villages around Rugby, including:

Church Lawford
Long Lawford
Kilsby
Barby
Crick
Yelvertoft
West Haddon
Dunchurch
Toft
Newbold
Harborough Magna
Pailton
Thurlaston
Princethorpe
Long Itchington
Marston
Bretford
King's Newnham
Churchover

To name just a few.

We have over two thousand products for you to choose from with the knowledge that your order will be delivered direct to your door. No more waiting in all weathers for buses that don't arrive, only to find that the nearest town doesn't have the items you wanted. Just shopping from home, in comfort.

Why not have a look now?

Staying Positive After Negative Customer Behaviour

Some customers really need to get a professional mindset when dealing with their suppliers. They need to realise that, just as they will react badly to poor or unprofessional service from a retailer, we will react badly to their behaviour.

In the past few days, I've had more than my usual share of negativity from customers. In no particular order, I've had to deal with:

1. Customers who, despite numerous visits, phonecalls or notes telling them when I'll visit, etc. never have the money to pay for the goods they've ordered, yet get upset when I ask if they still want them.
2. Customers who see it as a God-given right (judging by the reaction when I catch them at it) to short-change me.
3. Customers who try to pull a fast one regarding free replacements for items they've not bought from me.
4. Customers who demand refunds for items with no receipt to support their refund request.
5. Customers who, despite never being in when I call, and never taking the opportunity to call me back using the phone number on the numerous "sorry I missed you" slips, still harangue me when I finally get them to answer the door, before refusing to pay for goods they've ordered.

As always, I'm polite, assertive and calm in these situations, despite how I feel towards them.

In every single case, I've thought long and hard about whether I actually want the hassle of having these people as customers. Some will never get a catalogue from me again, some will get a second chance.

How do you deal with your negative customers?

Not Interested? Help Us to Help You!

I was tidying up my business paperwork this evening when I came across my collection of rejection notes.These are the notes that people leave with the catalogues to let me know not to leave another set the next time around. They can range from the terse to the downright loquacious, encompassing rudeness and sweet politeness along the way.

Since I started my Kleeneze business, I've received notes scrawled on my day slips, my order forms, and in one case, on every single catalogue cover (front and back).

In all but a few cases, though, there is one common denominator. Nobody puts their address on the slips. That's great when the catalogues are collected in daylight, but when they are collected at night, as is usually the case, it can be difficult to read notes that are written in coloured ink, or pencil. Needless to say, not being Superman, it's also pretty difficult to read the notes tucked inside the collection of catalogues.

So, every so often, we miss recording where the "do not bother" note came from. This then irritates the resident when I deliver the next set of catalogues, and irritates me when I don't get the catalogues back because the resident has decided I'm not paying attention and throws my catalogues away to teach me a lesson.

Please, if you're not interested, add an address to the "no more" message. It helps us to help you.

How to Deal with Customer Complaints

I got a wake-up call yesterday, whilst I was out collecting straggler catalogues. I was told I wasn't professional enough. By a customer.

This customer used to be part of a Kleeneze distributorship, back in the '90s. Her comments on my professionalism stemmed from the fact I didn't knock on her door the night before to collect her order. She was also aggrieved about the fact that I hadn't fulfilled a previous order. Only one problem with that - she hadn't given me an order in the past 8 weeks, as I hadn't given her a catalogue in the past 8 weeks, as per her husband's instructions.

I could have got upset and let her know it - after all, if she ordered something from another Kleeneze distributor, there's not much I could do if the goods weren't delivered.

I chose not to. I apologised, promised I would always knock on the door in future, told her I'd no idea what had happened to her order and that I would not let her down again. I meant every word, and she realised that. I also opened up a little about why I was trying to build my Kleeneze business and why good customer relationships were so important to me. In doing so, I reinforced my own beliefs.

Sometimes it's good to tell others what your WHY is.

In return, she gave me some useful tips for managing my Kleeneze retail business and I will be implementing those over the next few weeks. Her husband joined in, with suggestions as to good areas to deliver catalogues, and I will follow up on his suggestions too.

We parted on friendly terms, and much of the potential damage has been dealt with. The rest can only be dealt with when I demonstrate, over time, that I am both professional and reliable.

What are your favourite ways of dealing with customer complaints?

How Important is Good Customer Service?

Today, I got an object lesson in how not to promote customer satisfaction.

My day job is in the IT department of a large fashion retailer in the UK. I work at the headquarters in the Midlands, with a 90 minute round-trip commute each day. One of the benefits we head office staff get is the opportunity to order products sold by our company via the company website, so that they can be delivered to our office instead of our home address. As all deliveries have to be signed for, this is a useful perk and most of the head office staff make good use of this facility.

12 days ago, I ordered a digital camera from the company website, as it was on sale and therefore cheaper than buying it from Amazon (Panasonic Lumix FP1 Digital Camera - Pink (12.1MP, 4x Optical Zoom) 2.7 inch LCD) or Argos. I'd ordered a number of items from our ecommerce website before and had always received the goods within 2 working days. I was not expecting any problems this time either.

I was wrong.

As always, I was notified the following morning that my order was on its way and due to be delivered that day. Wonderful? Not quite. Clicking on the tracking link gave the message "Item misrouted to wrong depot". That was where my journey through a 21st Century purgatory began.

I tried to contact customer services. It took 45 minutes of being rerouted from one department to another before I was told to email my query to an anonymous internal mailbox where I was assured that they looked at those emails "at least a couple of times a day"!

The email was duly sent and I waited. For 2 days. At that point I got an email telling me that "it appears that your item has been misrouted to another depot". You really could not make this up - the best solution they could offer was for me to reorder the item "if you need it urgently" and then return the original item whenever it arrived! They advised me to wait 7 working days before I contacted the department again regarding my missing order.

I waited for a week before reordering the camera. This time, I got a tracking message saying "Order generated." For 2 days. At that point, I gave up and emailed the anonymous internal mailbox and waited. For another 2 days.

Yet again, I got told "There seems to be a delay at the warehouse with your order." You think? Yet again, I they advised me to wait a further 7 working days before contacting them again.

This time, I answered the email straight away, telling them to cancel my order and arrange a credit to my account. No doubt it will take another 2 working days before I get a response to that as well.

All of this is a timely lesson on the importance of good customer service. Just as I now won't recommend shopping for electrical items via this retailer's website, my customers won't recommend me unless I deliver when I say I will, explain clearly and politely what the situation is regarding out of stock or delayed items, etc.

I know that I am being recommended to their neighbours by some of my repeat customers. That's very important to me as it means I'm building a long-term relationship with my customers that will help me build my business on solid foundations. Just as importantly, I can teach others how to retail using the same philosophy. Poor customer service would destroy that relationship and demolish my business. It's a pity I can't get that message across to a FTSE-listed fashion retailer.