Topic: Going the extra mile for your buyers or customers - do you??

[ElCheapo]

Now I will not do use this to boast, I just wanted to know what your feelings on this are. I have been known to toss in parts as a bonus when I am feeling giving and recently rebuilt carbs for a guy who bought a bike from me and charged him nothing. They were about the easiest ones you could do plus I wanted to know exactly why it ran so goofy.

I think going little above makes a dyed in the wool repeat customer.

[Dusthawk]

Well, I can't speak for your end me being just a mere buyer, but, when someone does something to help me out that much more make me look for things to bring back and give them more biz. Even something as small as rounding down the total I owe makes me feel a valued customer. I went down to my Honda store to get a tune up kit, points, plugs, condensers, etc. and after I left I noticed the condensers weren't on the invoice. I know they weren't as a kit with the points because I got all the part numbers beforehand to pull the right amount out of the bank, and yes, I had change left over that would account for the conds. So yeah, Owen definitely keeps my biz.

[clarkjh]

Little things like that is worth 200% more then all the averts you can/could post in the papers/radio/TV.  It can take a little longer to get the word out but it is worth the effort in the long run.

James

[GeoffT]

I agree! As a buyer I will stay loyal to a garage/company/service provider who goes the extra mile. Any business man knows that if he gets his customers to keep coming back then he's a much better chance of survival. Couple that with the number of people that the customer will tell about the good service, then there will more than likely be a well trodden path to the suppliers door.
Of course giving away parts/petrol etc, is not cheap advertising but I would argue that it is probably the best as it greatly encourages word of mouth which most of us probably pay more attention to than local ads etc.

Keep up the good work Tom. 

[bill440cars]

                      I don't have a shop and this happened on ebay but, I just wanted to share this
         because it has to do with going the extra mile.

                      I saw an item on ebay, that was almost ended. By the time I could email the seller,
         the listing had ended. I asked if it would be relisted since it was a "buy it now"and I told him
         that it would be afew days (like about 5) before I could pay. He emailed me back and said that
         if I wanted it, he would knock $10 of the price, I could pay for it in that time and that would
         save him the effort of relisting the part too. As it turned out, I was able to complete the
         transaction sooner that I expected and his response was to tell me I could have waited and
         that he hoped it didn't out me in a bind and that when I needed something else, it was mine.
         Plus , when I went to pay for the item, I noticed that the shipping and handling charges were
         less than previously stated. I hesitate to disclose the seller's name because I don't want
         anyone else to expect the same treatment and I know he can't do things like that very often
         and be able to stay in business. I just wanted to bring this up because it feels good to know
         that there still are some who have a heart like ElCheapo and the others have shown of
         themselves. Well, there it is, if this needs to be moved then so be it.   

                                             Later on, Bill

[comcrx]

as a buyer, I appreciate any extra effort on the sellers part. it doesn't have to involve anything material either. my mechanic back home scored my, and quite a few of my friends, repeat business because whenever we came down to get some work done he would take the time to show us different cars he had( he was THE guy in alabama to fix a rotary engine car, and always had a few really fast rx-7's in the shop)

as a business owner, I know that little things can satisfy hungry people. last summer I was in a chicken wing competition and people were waiting in line for an hour and a half. to keep people happy, I started hand delivering some jambalaya that I had made just to let them know that I appreciated them waiting for so long

[dusterdude]

way to go tom,keep up the good work.

[ProTeal55]

It's the little things that make the difference..
You treat someone right, more times than not they will remember ya , and your shop...

[ElCheapo]

I thnk you as well as the other sellers in this thread for the heads up that these little things are noticed. Sometimes I do crazy extra things like haul a bike 60 miles for nothing just because I think the guy is a decent bloke. My wife shakes her head, but I know when I go to a rally of any sort I dont have to hide from someone I recognize in the crowd. Now that would suck.

[bill440cars]

I thnk you as well as the other sellers in this thread for the heads up that these little things are noticed. Sometimes I do crazy extra things like haul a bike 60 miles for nothing just because I think the guy is a decent bloke. My wife shakes her head, but I know when I go to a rally of any sort I dont have to hide from someone I recognize in the crowd. Now that would suck.

              Tom, I don't really know you except from here and reading your posts and all. I don't think you'll ever have to worry about hiding from someone in a crowd or anywhere else. You keep up the good work, you are definitely a credit to the business, motorcycles and this site. Take care. Bill

[Japbikemike]

The extra mile in customer service is what makes a repeat customer and generates great word of mouth advertising.

At my restaurant I used to send a free quart of cheddar cheese and beer soup home with customers.  It worked great for repeat customers till they started dropping dead from heart disease.

I should have stopped with the jar of mints at the cash register.

[dusterdude]

mike,send that cheese and soup this way.

[Uncle Ernie]

Our Motto;
We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you.
For some reason, this is the busiest spring in 26 years.  We are abso-blibbity-blopety covered UP! Poor slobs keep coming back, even after we lost our liquor license. If it was my good looks and disarming charm, I might understand.  Excuse me- HEY! DON'T TOUCH THAT!

What was the question again...?

[Uncle Ernie]

Oh yeah! I get paid by the hour- you gonna buy something or what?!