Editor:
An open letter to Sweet Home businesses that are no longer in business:
(This does not apply to Home Town Drugs, which did things right and did get my business.)
I am one customer who chose not to do business with your business. Perhaps you would like to know why? Well it is a little late to be asking. You should have asked me and other customers what we wanted the day you opened your doors. It is called a customer survey. Feedback. How are we doing? What can we do to improve our business and please our customers? Please fill out this customer survey card, etc.
For a couple of bakeries around here, if you had asked, I would have told you I wanted to buy donuts. I came in three or four times around 11 a.m., and there were no donuts on the rack! I can go elsewhere any time of the day, and I get what I want. I want plain or chocolate-covered raised donuts (round things with a hole in the center). I gave up on your business. You didn’t have what I wanted to buy when I wanted to buy it. Sometimes you did not have any donuts, fritters, bars or anything on your shelves. How do you stay in business?
For a restaurant that is no longer in business, I wanted to buy a nice thick, juicy hamburger, the kind I would cook for myself at home on the barbecue. The patty would measure about 1 inch thick. I ordered the largest hamburger you had on your menu. While I was waiting for my hamburger, I noticed the owner of the restaurant made a hamburger for herself. It was just as I like, nice and thick. But then I got the hamburger I ordered. It had a thin patty like you would get at a fast food restaurant. What I wanted was a hamburger like the owner made for herself. Yet she did not have this on the menu. I wonder if this restaurant would still be in business if the owner offered food on the menu that she preferred to eat herself? Or maybe if she asked her customers what they wanted?
For another business that is no longer around, they did not accept American Express credit cards, so I went elsewhere. I get cash back when I use this card; not much, but if I use this card frequently, the savings add up over a period of a year. So if I have the choice, I will shop at businesses that accept this card. It saves me money.
Then there have been a few businesses where the people working there were rude to their customers. These are no longer in business. It seems I and other people decided to shop elsewhere. Whatever happened to service with a smile? Thank you for your business? We appreciate it? If I have the choice, I will shop where the people are friendly. It makes my day nicer.
Successful businesses have the attitude that they don’t know it all. They don’t know if they are doing things right. They don’t know if they are treating their employees well. They don’t know if their customers are happy. They want to learn all they can from their customers and their employees, so they ask. Simple as that.
For those businesses that are still in business, ask your customers how you are doing. Ask them what you can do to improve your business. Have customer comment cards at the cash register and a locked drop box. For one month each year, stick a customer comment card, which has your address on it, in each customer’s bag. I’ll bet you get some excellent suggestions for improving your business. You might want to listen to what your customers have to say. Don’t forget. The customer is boss.
You might want to ask your employees what they think too. They are in constant contact with your customers. They know a lot about how you could improve your business. They hear what I and other customers have to say. All you need to do is ask.
And for you customers, let’s help keep the remaining businesses in business. Be a blabbermouth. Ask to speak to the owner and tell him or her what can be done to get more of your business. Tell them what they can do to improve their business. You might be the first person to tell them what everyone else in town knows.
Bill Davis
Sweet Home