Dear Business Owner,

I am in need of the product or service you offer. I already know that. I called you or came into your business because I know you have what I want. I don’t have to be “sold.” But I can change my mind and decide to buy the product or service from someone else. See, you’re not the only game in town. Actually, you probably have many competitors. And their product or service is in all probability very similar to yours. The price is likely comparable as well. So why should I buy it from you instead of “Joe down the street?”?

What happened when I called you on the phone? The person who answered sounded like I was bothering them. They didn’t sound happy that I was calling to do business with your company. And actually, come to think of it, they were downright rude to me.

When I came into your business or store, I wasn’t acknowledged or greeted by anyone. As a matter of fact, the two employees behind the counter were actually standing around talking to each other about the movie they saw last night. They didn’t even glance my way. When they finally did look at me, their lack of interest in me and what I was looking for was apparent. I asked where a particular product was and they pointed to an area “over there.”

Neither of those situations made me feel all warm and fuzzy, and certainly not important.

I’ll tell you what, me not spending money on your product or service has nothing to do with how much money I have in my pocket, which by the way, is plenty. Instead, it has to do with how you treated me when I wanted to buy what you were selling, but I didn’t get the feeling that anyone was interested in helping me do that.

My advice to you? When you hire a new employee, before you teach them about your products and services, how much they cost, how to ring them up, and where the shipping department is, teach them that customers are the most important part of your business. Teach them how to treat them and how to make them feel important.

Let me know when that happens, and maybe I’ll come back. Unless of course “Joe down the street” has already done that!

Signed,
Your former customer