Service after the sale

Kiana, our four year old daughter, was excited because grandma sent some money for her doing well in preschool work for the year. She knew exactly what she wanted – a pink bicycle with training wheels. We went to a Korean store that had a dizzying array of bikes and after trying out several she found one that had a basket, ringer, training wheels, and it was just her size.

Fast forward two months later. The pretty pink bike’s chrome is building up rust, and the tires are going flat. We tried to pump them up, but when the tube cap was taken off, all the air went out because the tire nozzle is different from the nozzle on our other bikes, so our pump did not work. We got the idea to take it back to the store for service. Surely they would sympathize with our plight and help Kiana become road (sidewalk) worthy again.

At the store, we were escorted to the back where the bikes are sold and repaired. Their pump had a strange clamp-like devise that we had never seen before. The tires were pumped up again, and all was well. As we were walking out of the shop, the attendant told us it will cost $1.50, but she’s going to give us a special deal and only charge $1 to put air in the tires. We paid the dollar and shook our heads in bewilderment; vowing never to step foot in the store again—not because of the rising cost of air, but because of the lack of service after the sale.

Some businesses are penny wise and dollar foolish when it comes to service after the sale. With five children, we were a potential source of ongoing revenue for the store. Instead, we are now a former, dissatisfied customer that just spent our last dollar at the establishment.

Contrast the local Korean store with how Chris Zane runs his bike shop in Branford, Connecticut. He provides lifetime free service on his products, a lifetime parts guarantee and a 90-day price-protection plan. Even more amazing is his outrageous returns policy: If you’ve been riding a Zane bike for 10 years and you suddenly decide you don’t like it anymore you can take it back for a full refund!

This makes charging $1 to pump air into the tires pretty flat by comparison. Of course, you might think, Zane is missing an opportunity to charge a fee for his services, instead of giving it away free. Maybe he is being too penny foolish. Well, let’s look at his results.

Zane’s company was started in 1981 when he was 16 years old, and his first year sales were $56,000. Today, Zane’s Cycles are approaching the end of its 24th year. Its sales have reached $6 million, and the business’ profit margin is at the top of its industry—not bad for a simple, little bike shop. Zane believes that the cost of providing superior service after the sale is far less than the value of new and return business it has helped him secure. With those numbers, it would seem to prove him correct.

If this can work for a bike shop, can this same philosophy be applied to selling food, shoes, clothes, or eyeglasses? Of course it can, and Hardt Eye Clinic, on Beach Road proves it. They have an excellent guarantee and customer-focused service after the sale. If you weren’t aware of Chris Zane’s success in his bike shop, you might question how they can afford to be so generous.

Hardt Eye Clinic’s guarantee is that all frames or lenses are unconditionally warranted against breakage for one year. If your frame or lenses break, they will make a new pair of glasses at no charge (one time only), and 90 percent of the time you will be wearing your glasses within 24 hours. If for any reason, you are not happy with your glass purchase, you can bring them in within 60 days for a complete refund.

You could say that the Clinic wants to look better to their patients (pun intended). Of course, if your business decides to offer an outstanding guarantee to customers, you must have an exceptional product or service. If you sell a bike that starts looking like a rust magnet and it can’t hold air in the tires after two months, you will go broke trying to duplicate Zane’s service standards.

Your best customers are your most important asset. Developing relationships with them will lead to greater success. When Chris Zane was asked what he would do differently, he responded: “I would have paid more money initially to get the quality of people I now have.”

Providing excellent goods or services attracts excellent customers, and offering outstanding service after the sale helps attract a better quality of patrons. If you nickel and dime your customers, you will be left with customers who will nickel and dime you for better deals.

(Rik is a business instructor at NMC and Janel is the owner of Positively Outrageous Results. They have consulted with over 400 businesses in 40 different industries. For better business results go to BizResults.biz to read previous articles.)