The Big Bad Wolf

The wolf walks with a purpose, strong, unmoved and ready to take on any challenge put in front of it. But there is something grumbling behind its back. Yes, it provides a good product and the customer service is OK. It could be better, but customers don't like the way they are handled. It's almost like a Jekyll and Hyde situation. If you catch it on a good day, you will get the best service imaginable but any other day, forget about it.

This is how some people feel when dealing with many big businesses and companies. They are forced to accept the good with the bad until something better comes their way, and they will be more than happy to take their business elsewhere. Keep in mind, we aren't discussing image or reputation yet, but rather, how customers see you as a whole. Eventually, we will get to these other points.

Having worked in retail, the big bad wolf was often times the customer who no one wanted to deal with. This can be because of the way we see them treat our coworkers or based on our own personal experiences with them. Many times, these patrons have been avoided and didn't even know it. I know you are supposed to do your job no matter what, customer service over everything, but at some point you will have been disrespected enough times by this one patron, leading you to refuse to deal with them at all. You would rather suffer the consequences of missing a big commission deal than face belittlement.

Customers can deal with the label of being the big bad wolf; they can always move on and shop some other place-- the opinion of them is based on the employees at that particular store. A business, on the other hand, should not be happy with that label. It doesn't give off a friendly vibe and worst of all, your image and reputation are taking a hit.

While you might be making a good profit now, that will soon change as more and more businesses are being created that will become competition for you. Suddenly, the big bad wolf is realizing its market share is rapidly decreasing and it is losing customers by the boatload. From this point on, the only thing that may save your business is repairing your reputation in hopes this mass exit from your business will gradually slow down.

No matter how big your business gets, if the customers are unhappy, they will eventually move on to a different business. Even if the new business doesn't provide the great quality that you provide, the respect is what matters to them.