Last updated on March 31st, 2016 at 01:01 pm

Why, as a small business, you shouldn’t be afraid to say no to a customer.

Recently I needed to find a garage to carry out an MOT and oil & filter change for my car (and I thought a new tyre) so, being new to the area I looked online to find a garage –  as you might expect there were many listed, in fact having driven through the nearest town I could remember seeing at least 5 garages / MOT places.

Not having anything to go on I decided to pick one at random and rang them to book the service and the MOT.  I got through to an answerphone and left a message saying what was needed (and when by) and leaving my phone number for them to call me back.  Having waited for a few hours I decided to ring again and this time I got hold of someone that said that the boss was out on an errand and would be back in 30 minutes, “could they ring me back?”.  So I waited…  Eventually the following day I rang again to be told by the boss that he was just dealing with a customer and would ring me back as soon as he could.

Needless to say, as you may have guessed, no-one rang back so – being a sucker for punishment – I tried ringing again.  Yet again I got through and was told that someone would ring me back.  Yet again no one did so I did what any prospective customer would do – I decided to go elsewhere.

This time I ignored the Internet listings and drove the 3 miles into the local town, pulled up at one of the other garages and was able to book the service and MOT for the following Monday – at the same time I got someone to look at the tyres and they agreed that one of them was worn (not illegal but when all you have in contact with the road is maybe 6 square inches of tyre on each wheel I believe in making sure that there is plenty of tread and grip left) so I ordered a tyre from them as well.  The following Monday arrived and the car was MOT’d, serviced and the new tyre was fitted.

The moral of my story is that if you are busy or don’t want to take on a particular piece of work (maybe you don’t have the stock, skills or it’s not profitable enough) then don’t be afraid to say no to a customer.  I would much rather have been told no by the first garage for several reasons.

1. I would not have wasted time chasing them over the next couple of days
2. I could have booked the work in at the 2nd garage much earlier
3. I don’t like (as do many people) being left waiting for people to contact me

When all is said and done, there is not much chance of me going to the first garage that I tried to use, while the 2nd one is much more likely to get my business in the future, and although I have deliberately not mentioned any names in this blog posting many other would-be customers may well tell their friends and workmates about the lack of service or use social media to complain to the world at large.  There is a saying “bad news travels fast” – do you want the bad news to be about your service or would you rather nip it in the bud by saying “no” to a prospect?

Another garage related customer service story is at my story about Formula One Autocentre in Peterborough.

(Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net)