Alright,
Walked into a coffee shop in Vernon today, they were doing some remodeling. Apparently upstairs is going to be amazing totally being reno’ed and freshened up to expand the space on the first floor. Saw this sign on the Barista station (that’s what I’m calling it Coffee connoisseurs)…
Asked what it was about and the barista said that so many people ask him about when the reno’s are going to be done…they put up this sign.
ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?
In my opinion “I don’t know” is a dumb dead end customer service response. The reason I love my job so much is I get to hunt for answers. The fact that people are asking when the reno’s are finished means they’re interested in your business. A sign that says;
“Ready Winter 2011” Good, under promise over deliver.
OR
“Completion date TBD” Better, let people know you don’t have the info but will be providing it shortly.
OR
“Sign up for our email updates on how the renovations are going and invitation to our GRAND OPENING” Best, you’ve generated a email list of loyal clientele who are still coming to your location even with the inconvenience, noise and disruption that come with renovations. You could offer them specials for signing up or use it to hype up the GRAND OPENING event of the new space.
SO MUCH UNUSED POTENTIAL HERE.
Again, in MY opinion anything would be more effective than what they have right now. They may be getting the question 100 times a day but each customer is only asking once. Find a better way to communicate with them.
Lesson learned, don’t brush off customers. What am I going to do with this info? Sort out my price list and post it on my homepage so I manage customer expectations. Stay tuned, I’ll do a post when it’s all up and live.