You would think that in this economy every single business owner would go out of their way to provide outstanding, or at least consistently reliable, service. Unfortunately, this is not even close to what’s true. My wife and I have been patronizing many businesses lately as we prepare for the birth of our third child, and we have found an incredible range of great and horrible service.

The bottom line: You are a foolish business owner with a short-lived business if you don’t create a service model that provides a consistent, reliable, predictable, positive experience for your customers.  

Examples of the bad: 

One: An electrical company returns to our house four times to install a few new lights and fans. The electrician keeps neglecting to bring the right tool or equipment, and apparently never evaluated the requirements of the job up front. He even began arguing with my 9-month pregnant wife on his fourth visit, which was a bad, bad mistake that I guarantee he now regrets. 

Two: A contractor we had used before doesn’t provide an estimate for new work when he says he would. “I’m really busy,” he whines. 

Three: I sent out three emails in 10 days to the customer service department of a $3,500 software product I am thinking of buying and get no response. Really? This company can’t answer a couple of questions in exchange for $3,500? 

Four: We discover as we remodel our house that the original builder/contractor, the behemoth US Homes, cut some corners when they built our house. As a result, we will not only never buy a new home from them, but we will tell others the same. US Homes has easily lost a half million dollars in revenues as a result. 

Five: I order 30 boxes of one of my books from a printer, and get only 6 boxes. The printer has no idea what happened to the other 24 boxes. No idea at all -- and I paid extra for rushdelivery.

Six: A waitress at a local Mexican Restaurant stands by our table telling us her depressing life story, and meanwhile neglects to put in a to-go order. We have to wait 20 extra minutes for the order. 

Seven: Why can’t Wendy’s Hamburgers ever get my order for a Spicy Chicken Sandwich done right? All I want is the sandwich with mustard and ketchup, no mayo, and extra pickles. Nine times out of ten, I got something different.  After the tenth try, I stopped going. Customers are willing to be patient, but only up to a point!

Eight: A CPA I have been testing out has been sending me IRS forms for payroll taxes. She has gotten 2 out of 4 completely wrong, almost costing me a lot of money in IRS penalties and interest (due to miscalculations, not anything I actually owe). Rather than respond promptly to my emails, she took her time, and showed no sense of remorse. She didn't even call to apologize. I can't believe that an educated professional would behave this way.

Examples of the good: 

One: The builder overseeing the renovation to our home comes out almost every day to see how we are doing and to clear up any issues with the sub-contractors (He even called the above-mentioned electrical firm to force a change of attitude and service). 

Two: A local Indian Restaurant gives us a takeout bag and forgets to add an order of shrimp. The owner runs out with the missing dish, but sees we have pulled out. She has a waiter follow us home and deliver the incorrect order – along with a pair of glasses my son left there – with their apologies. Maybe they never should have gotten the order wrong in the first place, but they sure recovered nicely! 

Three: After a disastrous computer repair experience with Best Buy/Geek Squad (described in a previous blog), a local computer firm fixes my wife’s computer in 2 days and for around $20. Geek Squad needed 6 weeks and $84 just to look at the computer (and their attitude stunk the entire time). 

Four: I recently installed TradeStation’s trading platform on my computer. The company assigned me a personal representative who has been incredibly responsive – unlike the software company mentioned above. He has called me personally to see how I am doing and answer any questions, and answers emails personally within hours. 

Five: I take my kids out fishing with a nephew who is in town. Captain Ed of Fish Factor Charters is incredible – baiting our hooks, casting our lines, telling us exactly how to hook the fish, and moving to a new spot as soon as a current spot dries up. We catch 12 fish and only one is edible or legal, but the kids have a great time thanks to his knowledge, patience, and personal service. 

Six: At the Sarasota YMCA, my kids and I are at the pool when it starts to lightning. The concession stand – which offers the best shaved ice in the world for only $2 ($1 for a small) – has closed. However, when they see me coming, they offer to open up for a minute just to get me my regular shaved ice. 

Seven: Our family is blown away by the service we get from the staff and tennis professionals at both Bath & Racket Tennis Club and Laurel Oaks Tennis Club. The people there are friendly and professional, go out of their way to make sure our kids are happy, and – even with some outdated facilities at one of these two clubs – give us one of our few reasons (aside from the fact that both sets of parents live here for our kids) to live where we do.

 If you are a sole proprietor, you have no excuse to not deliver perfect service every single time. If you have employees, all you need to do to make sure your service is consistent and positive is: be committed to the customer’s experience; put in place metrics and standards to meet the customer’s expectations every time; establish procedures and processes so your employees provide exactly the same experience; train your employees to handle unique situations (and give them the authority to do so); reward the employees who perform; and monitor how you are doing so you can follow up. 

But if it is so easy, why is our service experience so spotty? Either it isn’t as easy as it looks, or lots of business owners have a thing or two to learn about basic management and follow through.