One day, I spilled a black cherry soda on my new taupe carpet. After frantically attempting to remove the spot with every home remedy, I finally admitted defeat and called a commercial carpet cleaner.

The Yellow Page advertisement that caught my eye proclaimed a "family-owned" and "guaranteed customer satisfaction" company. I reasoned that if they are willing to put their family’s name behind their guarantee, they must be serious about quality service.

The next day, they sent a cleaner to my home who eliminated the spot with his chemical solution and the help of a steam iron, and soon was on his way.

A happy ending to my sad story. Or so I thought, until the next day. That’s when I noticed the steam iron marks in the carpet had not disappeared, and new stains now appeared on the carpet where an antique Turkish rug had laid on top of it. After another phone call, the company’s owner and her senior field technician were at
my door.

His first question was, "What chemicals did YOU use to clean the carpet?" I knew this was not a good start. After some discussion about the problem being with steam iron marks, not with my housecleaning abilities, we then moved on to the new stains. I said the stain was obviously caused by the cleaner failing to vacuum up
particles from the Turkish rug before he cleaned that area. The technician (who, by the way, trains the cleaners) responded defensively by saying that they always vacuum before cleaning, and so I would have to discuss my problem with the rug manufacturer. Hmmmmm … I had already told him that the rug was at least 100 years old!

These sorts of accusations by the senior field technician went on for a few more minutes. I soon had enough and gave him a three-minute education about customer service (at a rather high decibel level in close proximity to his nose). I then said I regretted doing business with them and felt sorry for less assertive people who did.

After they were asked to leave, I called my insurance agent to place a claim for replacing the damaged carpet. "Yes, Mr. Sheffert, we’ll be glad to help," she said."We’ll call the cleaning company and get it straightened out with them and their insurance company. If they continue to be difficult, we’ll follow-through and stay on top of it so that you don’t have to be inconvenienced," she said. Within 24 hours, my insurance company claims adjuster called and was prepared to send a check to have the carpet replaced immediately.

Phew! After what I had just been through, this was quite a contrast in a company’s view of quality service. Here was a company going well beyond policy provisions for its customer, instead of trying to place blame to cover up its inadequacies and weasel out of its responsibilities.

Wait a minute, you’re probably thinking. This is the "Money Talk" column; what does this corny story have to do with money? Well … settle down, oh impatient one! You’ll see as you finish my story that quality service has a lot to do with a business’ revenues and profits --- or the lack of them! I have summed up my advice on quality service in three aphorisms:

Aphorism #1

Repeat business is the most profitable business. Companies can spend anywhere from 30 percent to 300 percent of sales to gain one new customer. Analyze how much is spent on everything you do to close a sale, including telephone calls, mailings, lunches and dinners, advertising, travel, etc., and how long it takes before landing that customer. In comparison, it costs virtually nothing to get repeat business from a satisfied customer.
Do you know what percentage of your business comes from repeat customers?

Depending upon your type of business, if it seems low to you, it should be a red flag that your service isn’t where it should be. Take my example. That carpet cleaning company probably spends a big chunk of their marketing budget each year on the large Yellow Pages ad that prompted me to call them. But after my experience, I will not be a repeat customer. Even if they still made the technical mistakes they did, but then listened to my concerns, cared about them, and attempted to solve the problem to my satisfaction, I would use their services again. It’s unfortunate when problems happen, but it’s much more important in your customer’s
mind how you handle them.

Aphorism #2

You can win the battle, but lose the war. If customers do not come back, you not only lose their repeat business, but business from other potential customers who have heard bad things about your company and its service.

In one day, I told probably 10 to 12 people about my bad experience with this carpet cleaning company (not to mention write an article about it for Ventures readers, while using great restraint to keep the company’s name anonymous). Those people probably told others about it, and so on. And, my insurance company had this company on their "preferred provider" list, but will probably now take them off that list.

The carpet cleaning company’s cost to replace my carpet will be what it takes to meet their insurance deductible, probably no more than $250. So they won the battle for $250, but it will probably cost them thousands in potential future business.

Aphorism #3

Quality work isn’t the same as quality service. Particularly if you provide a technical / professional product or service, most of your customers don’t know enough about what you do in order to distinguish between outstanding technical work and simply competent work. I don’t know squat about the chemicals in carpet cleaning solutions or the techniques used to lift spots out of carpet fibers. As long as it is clean when they’re done, I’m satisfied. That’s the level of my expectations.

But when it comes time to decide whether to refer a carpet cleaner to a friend or to call them the next time a black cherry soda is spilled, I will think more about their quality of service than their quality of work --- that is what I am capable of judging. I know the quality of the personal relationship between this company and myself.

In other words, it’s not what you do, it’s the way you do it. You may offer the most high-tech, high-quality product or service, but do you listen carefully to what your customers have to say, rather than substituting your own thoughts about what they need? Do you give good explanations in advance about what you’re going to do for them and why? Do you avoid technical jargon and speak to customers on their level? Do you make customers feel as if they are important to you?

Instilling quality service into your organization is much more than an occasional training program or infrequent customer satisfaction surveys. You need to find ways to consistently measure quality service and fix problems promptly when they occur. It should be part of management’s philosophy and daily focus; you are the role model for your employees. Quality service should be part of ongoing training programs. And, rewards should be given fairly and consistently to those who excel in it because they are assuring repeat business.

Giving customers quality work AND quality service will make it easier to grow revenues and profits, and it will cost your company nothing … unless you don’t!