Issue link: https://nbm.uberflip.com/i/1490460
G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 3 • G R A P H I C S P R O 9 1 T H E R I S I N G T I D E O F B U S I N E S S | A A R O N M O N T G O M E R Y Aaron Montgomery is certified by New York Times best-selling author Jack Canfield as a Success Principles Trainer and is the co-founder of OurSuccessGroup. com. Aaron has over 25 years of experience with personalized products and small business development and is the co-creator of the "5 Keys of Business Success." You can also find Aaron co- hosting the decorator's industry podcast 2 Regular Guys Podcast (2RegularGuys. com). Also, check him out on his podcast channel called Small Business Saturdays (SmallBusinessSaturdaysPodcast.com). Customer Service and Expectations Determining what good customer service is and how to achieve it N ot too long ago, I ran across this poll in one of the industry groups on Facebook. e responses and options made me wonder how we stack up as an industry when it comes to customer service. How would I want the company to handle this issue if I put myself in the customer's shoes? As you could see from the top vote-getters, most votes were to make the customer feel stupid, be passive-aggres- sive, or turn away business. ere was only one option, and I was pretty surprised that after 24+ hours of the poll being on Facebook, the choice of "explain to the customer why it won't work" only had one vote. In this month's column, I'd like to explore some of the other choices, why I don't believe those are the best, and ultimately explore what good customer service is and how we can achieve it. By having outstanding cus- tomer ser vice, your company will grow organically, you will be working with happy customers, and your idea of success is only a matter of time. Print it as is — Technically, you can do that, and you will be "right." It is one of the "I told you so" options. When the customer gets B U S I N E S S S T R A T E G I E S it, they will not be happy, you will be putting low-quality work out into the marketplace, and other than feeling vindicated, there is no upside. If your goal is to make your customer feel stupid, print it as is. Try and upscale the art — If you are not passive-aggressive, this might be your option. Doing it for the customer is for the people pleasers out there, and they think that by just doing the work for the customer, they are providing good customer service. As I will explain at the end of the article, this is not good customer service. As a recovering peo- ple pleaser, I get this choice but read to the end to learn what to do instead. Print a test print and let them approve the quality — If you know it is going to be bad, and if your business values the quality you produce, why take on the extra expense and time? Ultimately if the customer insists it will be fine, this could become an option, but certainly not after one time of trying to get high-quality art. Refuse to print the job / give the cus- tomer a refund — ese two options seem odd for companies trying to keep the doors open, increase their revenue, and become successful. e customer clearly wants to do business with you, so why walk away from it? Again, there is only one choice on this list — explain to the customer why it won't work. It's all about education and ensuring the cus- tomer experience is good and your workflow is not hindered by the customers you are working with. e investment in educating your customer has so many benefits. It creates loyalty, word-of-mouth referral, and happy customers who can't wait to do business with you again because you helped them learn something they didn't previously understand. If the two that are on the list that I didn't break down would be your choice, then you