We’ve all experienced bad service from time to time. Usually, we do nothing, but sometimes, we complain. We might even write a letter to the newspaper. Most of the time though, you’re complaining to a giant conglomerate, and your one little complaint is a little like a mosquito biting a dinosaur.

However, if you’re an entrepreneur and you have a start-up, one little complaint can be a very, very bad thing for you – both personally and professionally.

Let’s take a look at how you can leverage customer service as the corner stone of your company, as well as how it can sink you faster than the Titanic.

The Best Case Scenario

Since it’s always better to err on the side of optimism, let’s imagine that your company is a paragon of customer service. Everyone who deals with you winds up walking away with a smile on their faces, knowing that one day, they’d like to do business with you again. This technique can be honed by understanding sales triggers, which I have written about previously.

But it doesn’t end there. The next time one of their friends, family members or co-workers says ‘Gee, I need an X widget,’ that previous customer jumps right in, telling them where to find you. When that person walks away happy, they tell their friends and family, and pretty soon, you have a loyal customer base, who want to deal with you, because they trust you. This is the Rule of 13 – whether your customer services was good or bad, the customer will eventually tell 13 people. The more emotionally engaging customer service program you have, the likelier they are going to 1) Tell more than 13 people 2) Tell them sooner rather than later.

As an entrepreneur, you should know that the single best way to build your company is through word of mouth – leveraging the personality credibility and network of your customers.

The bottom line? The customer may not always be right, but they are your most important advertising tool.

During my time at Nordstrom I would have customers call looking for a specific shoe. Usually I wasn’t sure if we had stock, so I would normally take their name and number and promise to call them right back. I cannot tell you how many times I heard “Wow….. you really checked? You are the first person in months who I’ve actually called and who’d even bothered to follow through. Thank you.” Even if they didn’t buy that time, guess who they asked for when they came to the store next time? Guess who just acquired a loyal customer in a matter of minutes? Exactly.

The Worst Case Scenario

Of course, every coin has a flip side. Let’s say you’re just starting your company. You have a few clients, but you’re not particularly focused on making them happy. Instead, you just want their money.

The first time someone walks away feeling cheated ignored or otherwise mistreated, you’re in for a big surprise. Because just like the power of word of mouth can work for you…… it can also work (powerfully) against you.

Now, you might be thinking that there are plenty of fish in the sea. You’d be right. But what happens if that person happens to write for a local paper, publish a blog, or know competitors in the industry? What if they know someone who works for, or even owns, one of your biggest corporate clients? That one unhappy client can snowball rapidly, eating away at your customer base and your profits like termites on wood.

Before you know it, you’re so busy fending off bad press and ‘fires’ that you hardly have time to focus on your company. A good example of this is when Wikileaks first launched – minimizing public embarrassment because the focus of many Fortune 500 companies – at a very expensive cost to shareholders. Not an ideal situation by any stretch of the imagination, is it?

Compromise Is Key

Of course, there’s the old saying ‘you can’t please all of the people all of the time.’ You also can’t be a complete marshmallow, who gives in to every small complaint. You’d be out of business before you know it with that strategy.

What you need to do when dealing with less than happy clients is aim for compromise. Come to a solution that leaves both of you satisfied, if not entirely happy. Be reasonable, listen to their requests, and keep them in the loop. Premium customer service creates scalable brand equity for your business – which translates to steady profit margins regardless of the economy.

The truth is, most people are not entirely unreasonable. If you explain something to them, and help them understand why fixing their problem is taking so long, and the proactive steps you’re taking, they’ll appreciate such thorough communication. They’ll also tend to give you the benefit of the doubt and longer leash going forward.

Look To Yourself

Any business owner is also a consumer. We all buy things every day, whether it’s products or services. We also sometimes have complaints. How those complaints are handled makes all the difference whether we continue to deal with a particular company.

So, when you find that your customers aren’t happy about something, put yourself in their shoes. Would you be happy if the roles were reversed? If not, what would you want done to rectify the situation?

By handling unhappy clients this way, and doing your very best to offer the best quality service you can, before and after a sale, you can be ensure that even unhappy clients are likely to become loyal followers of your company.

One bad apple can spoil the tree – don’t let that outcome even be an option after all the hard work you’ve invested into your company.