We’ve all heard some form of the following a million times. “We can’t ship your order until next week; sorry for the delay. We have a large customer in front of you.”

When customers hear this they think, “I could not possibly care less about your big customer that has such a high priority. I only care that you’re not taking care of my needs.”

Why This Upsets Customers

1. They don’t care about any other customers. Customers are made up of people. People are selfish. They honestly, sincerely and deliberately do not care about anything other than how happy we are making them at the moment.
2. If we say something like this to a new customer, we’re signaling how we intend to treat them relative to our other customers (i.e. second-class).
3. Long term customers justifiably resent this kind of treatment. The customer relationship we’ve built over the years can be destroyed in seconds when we indicate to them that they are riding in “coach class” today.

Sales Tips Rx
We shouldn’t ever use our involvement with another customer as a reason for poor customer service. While it’s tempting to use this excuse when we’re in a time or resource crunch, the fallout will be very toxic to the customer who’s “waiting in line.”   This is considered a major faux pas in customer service.

Everyone understands that we have to prioritize time and resources with customers. Clearly, our best customers should be given priority. However, it needs to be done in a way that is transparent to our smaller customers. It’s also the supplier’s responsibility – not the customer’s – to be prepared to accommodate unexpected customer needs.

Sales Blog Wrap Up
Customers vote with their feet. In other words, when they don’t like a supplier they’ll turn around on their heels and walk away from them. Verbalizing to our customers that they are in line behind a bigger customer will almost always guarantee they’ll walk.

©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Related posts:

1. Why It Pays To Make Life Easy For Your Customers
2. For A Change, Try Being Honest With Your Customers

Tags: customers, service

We'd like to hear your feedback on this post - feel free to comment below!