|
Learn_to_Learn
| Learn to Learn
Marlon was a wonderful farrier. He came every 6 weeks or so to
trim the horses' feet and make special shoes for one of them. A
good farrier is critical to a horse's overall health because
foot disorders can disable a horse to the point that he may have
to be destroyed. After all, when there is over 1,000 pounds to
support, everything has to be in good working order.
We weren't the only ones who loved Marlon. He had a loyal
following of regular customers and was busy all the time. Not
only did he do a terrific job, he was personable and fun to have
around.
When he decided to retire, he trained Trish, his daughter, to
take over his business. She was also fun and personable, so
there was a smooth transition. Unfortunately, we started having
trouble as soon as she took over. It started with snow pads,
which are rubber inserts that go between the hoof and shoe and
which are supposed to prevent snow from building up in the shoe.
The snow was building up in spite of the snow pads, and our
horse was walking on chunks of ice the size of tennis balls. A
farrier problem.
In the spring, we noticed both of the horses were tripping on
the trail for no apparent reason. Our vet said that their feet
were not trimmed properly, which was not only causing them to
trip but which was also stressing some of the bones and muscles
in their legs. Another farrier problem.
We tried to get her to find out what needed to be done, but she
got defensive and was difficult to deal with. After about six
months of problems, it became too much; we had to find another
farrier. When we told her we were switching, she got snotty.
"Don't you want to know why?" we asked her.
"No", she said bluntly, and hung up.
We know that many of Marlon's other customers also switched.
Trish has ruined her father's business of over 30 years, which
is a tragedy. But another tragedy is that Trish bought the
business from him and is making payments. They are both going to
lose.
There are two lessons here having to do with learning. The first
one is this: if you are delivering a flawed or otherwise
inferior product, you must learn how to fix it! What do you
think will happen if you do a poor job and don't even try to
make it right? If she had shown a willingness to "do whatever it
takes" to fix the problems she was causing, we would have been
more patient.
The other lesson is this: if you lose a customer it is
imperative that you find out why and learn from the situation.
If it's because of something that you did, you may be able to
fix it and save the customer, but even if you can't save this
one, you may be able to prevent losing anyone else.
About the author:
"Make More Money and Have More Fun" with your small business!
Dave will show you how with his FREE newsletter, or his FREE
'Min-E-Seminar': "Secrets of an Actual $5 Million Home
Business." Visit http://www.TheStayAtHomeCEO.com/art.htm to
sign-up, for information on speaking services, or for copies of
past articles and newsletters. Comments and/or questions are
always welcome at 1-800-366-2347 or Dave@DaveBalch.com.
|
|
| |
| |
