Saying "no" to your customer is your right and responsibility. But, every time you say no, there is a hidden cost and that hidden cost is either diminished loyalty or outright abandonment, warns Bob Negen.
Saying "no" to your customer is your right and responsibility. It is not mine. It is yours. It's your responsibility as a business owner to make those hard decisions. It's also your right to disagree with me. Having said that, let's talk about the hidden cost of saying "no" to a customer.
When you say no to your customers, when you don't let them do what they want to do, you are driving them away. You may not realise it, which is why I call it the "Hidden Cost of No".
Here's an example: Steve Frazee, our chief strategist, has a policy. If a store doesn't take American Express, that's fine. He will pull out his Visa to pay, but he'll never go back to that business again because he prefers to pay with American Express. He doesn't say anything to the merchant; he just won't go back to that store. It ends up being a hidden cost to that merchant because they just lost a customer. The cost of saying no can be fairly high if you consider all the potential future sales that will be lost forever.
I get it. Accepting American Express costs more. But when you make it inconvenient for your customers to pay with what they prefer, you send them away from your store and lose business. Because when you say no, for any reason, the people who walk away are probably never coming back. If you think you are not losing sales when you say no, you are very wrong. The message you are sending is that you clearly don't care for their business enough, so people will go elsewhere.
Think of the long term value beyond each single transaction.
Customer loyalty is so important. Every time you say no, there is a hidden cost and that hidden cost is either diminished loyalty or outright abandonment...
Saying "no" to your customer is your right and responsibility. It is not mine. It is yours. It's your responsibility as a business owner to make those hard decisions. It's also your right to disagree with me. Having said that, let's talk about the hidden cost of saying "no" to a customer.
When you say no to your customers, when you don't let them do what they want to do, you are driving them away. You may not realise it, which is why I call it the "Hidden Cost of No".
Here's an example: Steve Frazee, our chief strategist, has a policy. If a store doesn't take American Express, that's fine. He will pull out his Visa to pay, but he'll never go back to that business again because he prefers to pay with American Express. He doesn't say anything to the merchant; he just won't go back to that store. It ends up being a hidden cost to that merchant because they just lost a customer. The cost of saying no can be fairly high if you consider all the potential future sales that will be lost forever.
I get it. Accepting American Express costs more. But when you make it inconvenient for your customers to pay with what they prefer, you send them away from your store and lose business. Because when you say no, for any reason, the people who walk away are probably never coming back. If you think you are not losing sales when you say no, you are very wrong. The message you are sending is that you clearly don't care for their business enough, so people will go elsewhere.
Think of the long term value beyond each single transaction.
Customer loyalty is so important. Every time you say no, there is a hidden cost and that hidden cost is either diminished loyalty or outright abandonment...