Sam's Club Made a Public Relations Mistake
When I went to Sam's Club a public relations mistake was made which left me frustrated instead of happy to be a Sam's Club Member. What could they have done different? A marketing lesson....
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Sam's Club Made a Public Relations Mistake
When I went to Sam's Club a public relations mistake was made which left me frustrated instead of happy to be a Sam's Club Member. What could they have done different? A marketing lesson for all of us.
This
will seem like a small matter to most of you but a great
opportunity to demonstrate how a minor negative could have been
turned into a marketing positive that would have turned me and
possibly other members into instant Sam's Club recruiters.
What Happened?
I
decided to be bad and get myself a hot dog and drink. For those
who don't know, as of writing this article, a hot dog and drink
costs $1.50. The soda machines were all out of order. Knowing the
way I treat my own customers I asked the staff member, whom
granted follows orders so it was a management phoopa, what I could
have in place of the soda such as a bottled water perhaps. She
replied I could have a bottled water, but I'd have to pay the
difference. As one trained in sales and public relations that
didn't seem right to me, so I just ordered the hot dog, $1.37! I
decided I didn't wish to support this lack of forethought at
handling an even minor frustration for a paid member and politely
refused my order. Knowing the young lady serving my hot dog to me
had nothing whatsoever to do with policies to keep members happy.
My Follow Up
Hey
I don't just talk the talk. I know the importance of good
communication. So I went to the customer service desk to make my
suggestion of a replacement, planning on having to explain
customer relations to another hourly wage earner, whom, so close
to closing is probably thinking about what to do with the rest of
her day.
A nice lady, when I approached her, she
immediately saw this would take a management position staff member
and proceeded to try to get one to which I could offer my
suggestion to turn us frustrated customers into highly motivated
sales-people. Unfortunately Sam's Club was closing within 10
minutes, and understandably to me it was difficult to find someone
available. So I left to pay for my groceries. Hot dogless for the
weekend. As a follow up I'll forward this article to Sam's Club
website if the administration was clever enough to have contact
information on their website.
Why
am I Telling You This
EVERY small problem your
own clients have is an OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE GOOD PUBLIC
RELATIONS.
A customer downloaded my Paypal
Orderform Maker and discovered a glitch. He emailed me rather
frustrated. I told him I was sorry about the problem and thanked
him for making me aware of it. I fixed it as quickly as possible
and sent him the new download link.
I
DID NOT STOP THERE
I told my client that he
helped other people with this problem as well. I told him I
appreciated his time and for his time and effort please go back to
my $2.00 ebook and software section and select any other product
he'd like written by me personally (please remain honest and don't
use this as an excuse to steal my work which helps to feed my
family). Now I have, not just a client with a working program, but
a happy client who knows THAT I KNOW the value of a satisfied
customer.
Always Give More
Always give more than what your client expects
in service and product. Service is especially important. I always
say if you sell a customer a $3000.00 widget and give him/her
$500.00 worth of service, your customer now has a $500.00 widget.
About
the Author
J. Richard
Kirkham has been in sales related fields for over 25 years. Over
half of that time in a health
related field. He's a dual
certified teacher and martial
arts instructor. He has expertise in alternative teaching
methods and positive reinforcement methodology. He's written
several books in the printable electronic format and has made
downloadable videos and DVDs and has published software.
You
may now add to your collection of his work to help both new and
experienced marketers Article
and Sales Page Templates with Ebook like instructions
http://kirkhamsebooks.com/WritersTools/Templates4ArticlesNSalesPages.htm
in
them so you may learn html as you write your articles and sales
pages. A huge time saver to your learning curve and or downtime
away from your computer.
Feel free to visit Mr. Kirkham's website at http://kirkhamsebooks.com/WritersTools/ Be sure to subscribe to his FREE newsletter for FREE Articles and Tips SubmissionSitesUpdates-subscribe@yahoogroups.com by sending a blank email. Don't forget to approve the Yahoo double check email