What Not To Do When Selling A Homogeneous Product (Part 2)
Thursday, July 17th, 2008Yesterday I talked about two things not to do if you’re selling a homogeneous product in the context of comic book stores. Today I’m going to wrap it up with two more.
#3 - Don’t fail to manage expectations properly.
When I moved over to G&B Comics, they gave away Previews (a comic book catalogue) free every month, to the people who shifted over from Colin’s. No mention of time frame, no mention it was a temporary thing. That was one thing that won me over in the beginning. Then, come last week, after 3-4 months, I was suddenly told that they weren’t continuing it anymore because it was “for awhile only”. Really? When was this mentioned? If they had told me it’s just for 4 months, at least I could manage that expectation and be ready to pay for it in the 5th month, rather than get a rude shock when I’m physically standing at the counter expecting a free copy.
#4 - Don’t make it seem like all you’re in for is the money.
I understand that if you’re not making money, you’re not in business. But it doesn’t mean your customers have to perceive that all you care about is making money. For example, I’m heading off to Canada from September, so unlike the store, I thought it’d be good to manage expectations and tell them not to get my comics (and save them some money) for the next quarter. Here’s my email to them in it’s entirety:
Dropping you a mail to let you know I won’t be in Singapore from September till December of this year. Just to drop you some early notice so you can manage the future orders.
Speaking of managing expectations, must say I’m pretty disappointed that the free Previews for those who shifted over from Atomix was suddenly dropped. Came as a bit of a surprise that it was a “temporary” arrangement cos that’s not what it sounded like at the beginning.
And here’s their response:
Hi Daryl,
your membership number is 1586 correct? as we’ve a couple of membership number named under Daryl Tay. We need to put on a notice so that your comic subscriptions will continue during this period that you’re not in singapore.
Thank you.
All that email read to me was “Can we clarify your number (instead of your name), so that we can cancel your orders and save us some cash”. No further communication about the poor expectation management, Nothing. Did I feel like they cared about anything other than money? No, not really.
For the record, Colin, the owner of the previous comic shop, also had a few customers going by “Daryl Tay”, but he never got it mixed up. Why? Effort and giving names to customers instead of numbers.
If you’re dealing with products or services that are easily available elsewhere, do take note of these points. They’ll help to keep your customers happy and perhaps even loyal.
Tags: customer relations, customer service, expectation management, g&b comics, keeping customers happy, loyal customers, poor communication, Poor Practices, what not to do when selling a homogeneous product, what to do when selling a homogeneous product
