I deal with disgruntled customers, happy customers, really screwed up drunk customers, disabled customers, and plain stupid customers on a daily basis. The point of getting a reputation for your business is to treat ALL of them the same. Wether they are buying something or not, help the, as much as you can.
Customer A receives great help from me at the store, but does not purchase anything. He goes home and tells customer B about the great service and to go see Kunk at the store. Customer B goes and sees me, purchases an item and then continues to tell customer C about his experience..... So on, so forth.
You win some, you lose some. You make a sale, you lose a sale. It's business. If you cannot deal with all types of customers, you shouldn't be dealing with any.
One happy customer brings you another happy customer. One unhappy customer make you lose a giant chunk of business. Don't doubt that it does not matter, because it adds up. Strive to make every customer happy.
Now that Sylvain appears to be on the forum, my best advice to him (and any business) is what I posted above. I hate to say it, but you don't create a good business by doing what YOU want/think is right, you do it based on what the customer wants/thinks is right.
Why do we all like Harry J Epstein's? Personally, I think some of their prices are a bit high (especially shipping); but why do I/we shop there? Because the guys over there are not afraid to go above and beyond.
What about Westling Machine? They make a great custom product, and took OUR (the customer's) suggestions and made the product better. (they put labels on their trays)!
Do it how you please, but your goal is to make us happy. Period. I don't care how anyone justifies their actions, but in then end if the customer is not happy, your business does not exist.
Oh, and if my customer went 'above my head' to the manufacturer, but still wanted to purchase the item from me; I would be estatic. That customer just saved me sme time. Instead of having to call around and figure out when/how long it would take to get the item, I now know the manufacturer has the item ready to ship...... So I would tell the customer;
"Thank you for confirming that [manufacturer] has [item] in stock. Normally it takes us 5-7 days to receive our order from [manufacturer], so assuming they have the [item] ready to ship, we can have it by the end of next week. I have sent an email out to [manufacturer] already, and am expecting a reply soon. If you would like me to order [item] please let me know, and of course feel free to contact me about any other matters."
That message shows some key points;
-by saying that you already sent an email, yo are showing that your customer's interest is also YOUR interest
-when you thank the customer, you are affirming him/her
-to give the customer a time frame, you are reassuring the customer of the service he/she will recieve
-to invite the customer to contact you again is basically "asking" for a reply (confirming more communication=making a sale)
It's a process. But everyone can learn it
