Mishandling New Customers: A Cautionary Tale

Last week I related how a chalet owner in France tried to break into a new market by providing excellent customer service.  He did a great job.  What I didn’t mention was go crosslites essay topics focus in class essay tips cialis india online pharmacy watch go to site austin personal essay counselor go follow url video quang cao viagra get link best available viagra in india click go to site debatable thesis topics en cuanto tiempo hace el efecto la viagra calcium channel blocker and viagra https://businesswomanguide.org/capstone/purdue-phd-thesis-template/22/ https://lukeeng.com/services/distributors-business-plan/54/ viagra online gnstig bestellen http://mlat.chapman.edu/annotated/commonwealth-competition-essay/62/ extended definition essay addiction go to link cipro overnight visa cell phone at school essay cialis to buy accutane and kidneys https://oaksofwellington.com/generic-viagra-k-mart/ source site can i take 1 and half 5mg cialis https://laralafayette.org/classes/primary-homework-help-ancient-egypt-river-nile/91/ one important detail about courting a new customer base:  you have to be prepared to provide what you advertise.  A few years ago Bottle Washer and I gained a new market group and it ended disastrously because we did not anticipate and plan for how such an influx would affect our business.  Here is the play-by-play of our epic fail and what we learned:

Our only competition had been a poorly-managed operation sinking toward insolvency for several years.  We thought we gained several customers simply because they didn’t want to go the other place.  We enjoyed the luxury of being a default choice, which probably was a factor in our complacency.  But, theirs was a bigger operation, could offer some services we didn’t, and had expanded hours.  When it eventually went out of business, we saw an opportunity to pick up lots of new customers.  We quickly beefed up our newspaper advertising and soon saw the effects.  The people came pouring in!   We were headed for easy street!

Well, you know the saying be careful what you wish for?  We should have heeded that advice.   All we were thinking about was the cash flow we would experience from all these additional customers, not how we were going to service them.  Big mistake.  Not only did we leave a bad impression with the new customers, but with many of our original ones as well.

Before going after a new market, be sure to consider the following questions:

1.  Is your facility physically big enough to handle the extra traffic? Ours wasn’t.  The building began to feel congested.  The restroom facilities were not adequate.  Parking became a problem.   There wasn’t enough space for people to put their personal belongings while they were here.  Our waiting area wasn’t big enough.  Plus, and worst, we didn’t have enough equipment to service all of our new customers, and they had to wait in line.  This really ticked them off.  Every physical space has a capacity threshold where it crosses over from seeming like a buzzing, happening spot to just plain crowded.  We blew right through our threshold.

2.  Do you have the proper staffing in place?  We bombed on this one, too.  We didn’t up our staffing to handle the additional customers, so our customer service, which is one of our hallmarks, began to noticeably slip.  Our staff was working like mad, but they just couldn’t help everyone at the same time.  The new customers, who were used to our thinly-staffed former competitor, didn’t notice, but it really got under the skin of our long-term clients.  They let us know.  Plus, close customer oversight is necessary for the safety of our clients, and our oversight wasn’t what it needed to be.   Bottle Washer, who is all about customer service, was having conniption fits.  I, who am all about risk analysis, was having my own conniption.  

3.  Can you maintain your zeitgeist?  Every Small Business has its own personality.    That’s what makes us each unique from one another and different from the Big Boxes.  As Owen Wilson’s character in You, Me, and Dupree calls it, your “ness”.   Bottle Washer and I worked hard to develop and maintain our intimate, “everybody knows your name”-ness.  The crush of new customers completely destroyed this ambiance, and with it one of our main customer draws.

4.  Can you deliver your product?  This seemed like a no-brainer.  Providing a service to 100 people is the same as providing it to 10 people, except you make more money, right?  Well, not really.  In our excitement to capture these new customers, we failed to consider that a big part of our product is the high level of service and supervision that accompanies it.  Because we didn’t ask ourselves Question #2, above, we weren’t actually able to deliver the same product for our new customers.  And yes, they noticed. 

5.  Do the new customers want the product you offer?  We thought so.  But, as it turned out, one of the big draws of our former competitor was the services that they offered that we don’t.  So, many of the new patrons were dissatisfied from the giddy-up and immediately had an unfavorable impression of our place. 

6.  Is your new customer base compatible with your original customer base?  This last one completely blindsided Bottle Washer and I.  I mean, really, we’ve all been out of seventh grade for some time now.  But, we quickly discovered that, like at the tables in a middle school lunch room, people like to be with people like themselves.  Even when patronizing a business.  The new customers we brought in were noticeably different in age and lifestyle than our original customer group.  Obviously, we were naive not to have seen this coming, but the two groups began to self-segregate, become hostile, and even be verbally combative while they were in our establishment.  On more than one occasion Bottle Washer had to assume the role of lunchroom monitor, go out on the floor, and actually ask them to play nice. 

The end result was that because we were unprepared for an onslaught of new customers and did not carefully integrate them into our business, the entire episode, although bringing in a lot of additional cash, actually hurt our Small Business.   The new clients were disappointed because we couldn’t offer their favorite services.  (Perhaps if we had done more research, we would have realized that the services we didn’t offer were the reason they chose the other place originally.)  The original customers felt our business had gone downhill, with reduced attention from the staff, a loss of the former intimate atmosphere, and an influx of clientele that they were not comfortable with.  Both groups quickly became frustrated with the increased wait time and crowded facilities.

Of course, we tried to quickly correct these issues.  We purchased additional equipment to service more people at a time.  We secured more space and appropriate insurance to offer the services available from our former competitor.  We adjusted our staffing schedules to add extra coverage during the busy times.  But, it was too late, and the damage was done.

What became of the competitor that ended in bankruptcy?  A seasoned businessman with deep pockets rehabbed the building top to bottom and re-opened as a slick, new, state-of-the art facility.  All of our new-found customers were gone in a matter of a few days, and even some of our long-time patrons, who were disgusted with their recent experience, left and have never returned.  We were left with now-unneeded expensive equipment, pricey unnecessary insurance, and a damaged reputation, while at the same time gaining a powerful competitor.  It was a painful and expensive lesson. 

How has your Small Business  successfully or unsuccessfully handled a rapid influx of new patrons?