I belong to a non-profit
organization. We are planning our annual
holiday party, so one of the members went to a local restaurant to see if they
could accommodate the group and to determine the price and menu available. She spoke with the owner and got all the
details. The owner advised her that if
we guaranteed 50 people would attend, the price would be $9.95 per person for
the buffet, but she would need confirmation of the number within a week.
Five days later, our
representative returned to the restaurant to finalize our reservation and to advise
the owner that there would be 53 in attendance.
Upon arrival, she was told that her price had increased to $10.95 per
person. Upset and disappointed, our rep
confirmed the reservation for 53 people at the increased rate.
On the following day, a few
of our members saw an ad in the local newspaper advertising party reservations
at that same restaurant for $9.95 per person.
Our group leader returned to the restaurant – ad in hand – and spoke
with the owner about the increased price she had quoted our group. Unbelievably, the owner refused to honor her
original quote. Our group leader
canceled our reservation and is now seeking another place to have our holiday
party.
This situation is an
example of extremely poor business practice.
As I thought about it, however, I realized how ignorant the owner
was. Because she increased the price,
she lost a party of 53 people who would have each paid $9.95. Worse than that though is the fact that each
of the 53 people who planned to attend, and even those in our group who did not
plan to attend but learned about the situation are unlikely to ever dine at
that restaurant again.
Most people eat at
restaurants with at least one companion, so beyond the members of our group,
those with whom they may have dined are now lost patrons as well. Continuing this loss of business a step
further, many of our group members will tell others about what the business
owner did. I already have told a couple
friends who are very unlikely to return to that restaurant. (And I’ve told all of you, but you are not
local.)
There is no way to
determine the exact number of customers this restaurant lost, but clearly it
will lose some. More importantly, this
restaurant’s reputation has been damaged.
For those of us who have
internet businesses, poor business practices and customer service can destroy
our reputation much more quickly than that of a brick and mortar business. If we do not provide excellent service to
just one customer, that customer could post their complaint on any high ranking
website, and within hours, hundreds if not thousands of people will be aware of
whatever it is that we did or not do to upset our customer.
Something as simple as
telling a prospect that they will earn a six-figure income in a month can
come back to destroy your standing in the online community. Every day I see people who post that they
GUARANTEE success to those who join their company. No matter how great your business may be,
some people will simply not work their business. It happens all the time with internet
businesses. How will that guarantee hold
up? Unless I am missing something very
basic, if someone does not work, I see no way they can earn money.
The whole point of this
blog is to stress the importance of our reputation, both on and offline. Our business practices must always be fair
and honest. It seems to me that I heard somewhere, “Do
unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That says it all, does it not?
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