Customer Service is Crucial to Local, Small Business

Image by corwinok via Flickr

Living in small town Iowa has a lot of advantages. Not only do I enjoy some of the best quality of life in the world, but I'm also on the front lines of interesting, real-life business issues. The classic tension between small, local business and the "evil" corporate big boys rages continually and I've enjoyed watching the community struggle.

While my heart and desire is to support my local business people, I must admit that I've been disappointed by the service experience I've received. I have often found small, local business to take advantage of my goodwill and excuse their lack of basic customer service.

A few classic, true personal experiences from the archives:

• I walked into a small local hardware store to buy some bird seed. Based on the type of store and their inventory you'd expect them to carry bird seed. I was met by the scowl of an employee who informed me in a snobbish tone that they don't carry birdseed because it attracts mice. "Huh," I thought to myself, "Maybe it would also attract customers who want to buy it." I went to Wal-Mart, was greeted with a smile and bought my bird seed.
• I used to walk into the local coffee shop almost daily. I was a regular for almost three years. They should have put a sign above my usual booth saying, "Tom's Office". Not once was I greeted with a familiar smile. If they knew my name, they never used it - even though I tried to initiate and greet the baristas by name. I ordered a coffee and a cinnamon roll when I came in. After 30 minutes they hadn't delivered the cinnamon roll. When I went up for a refill on the coffee, I mentioned this. It was promptly delivered. No apology. No "thanks for your patience." No "Gosh, Tom, you're such a great customer. Sorry we blew it. Next time the cinnamon roll is on us!" The attitude was "Who cares? Screw you. Where else are you gonna go? What, you think there's a Starbucks on the next corner?" I stopped going.
• I had problems with my roof. I called a well-known, local roofer in an effort to keep it in the community. It took multiple phone calls and several months to get a quote. It took more than 15 months to get my roof. When I had problems, it took multiple calls and several weeks to get a response and follow-up visit.
• I walked into the local small engine and equipment shop, money in hand, to buy a lawnmower. I waited for several minutes for someone to approach me. When someone finally asked if they could help I said, "I want to buy a lawnmower." I was utterly flabbergasted at the response. "Listen, I need to unload some stuff in the back. Can you come back in an hour or two?" (I wish I was making this up).

I've heard it said that small, local business can provide the friendly, neighborly, personal service that the big, corporate stores lack. I have no doubt that they can. In fact, it's crucial that they do. The temptation that must be resisted by local small business it to take customers for granted, and expect them to accept and excuse a poor customer experience.