notes and views on crm, social media, and the human side of information technology

We don’t serve customers here


I stopped by at an optometrist today to have my sunglasses fixed. A 30-second job that most stores traditionaly do for free.

The clerk pointed to a big sign erected at the cashier’s desk that read, “We don’t repair glasses that weren’t purchased here.” He said they definitely wouldn’t do that and that they didn’t even have a price-list for that kind of service.

I have never seen any customers in the store. It almost looks as a front for mob money-laundering operations. But assuming it isn’t, I cannot fathom why it is still there.

A year after being turned down, a customer won’t remember the offense in detail. He’ll just remember he wasn’t served well. Even if the store had carried a variety of designer items for bargain-basement prices, a customer who had a reasonable request and wasn’t safisfied is likely to avoid getting turned down again and will take his business elsewhere.

The devil is in the small things. In the tiny things. Things that don’t cost anything to do properly yet will cost the business owner a fortune if they are ignored.

June 3, 2008 | Filed Under CRM 

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