Visions - & Victoria Inn - Brandon Aug 30

Yesterday my husband and I were shopping in Brandon. The first thing we were going to check out was a new TV because one of ours is certainly on it's death bed. We started our comparison shopping by going to Visions on the highway. As soon as we walked into the store, a gentleman said "Hello. How are you today?"

My first thought, was "Oh no, this man is going to be in our face all the time we are in here." That was not to be the case. We looked at the various Televisions, and of course looked at the price tags. After a reasonable amount of time David Leland came over to see if we had any questions and if he could help us in any way. He answered all our questions and we developed a good working relationship.

We weren't ready to buy a TV, but we had some questions about a combination DVD/VHS recorder. He showed us a Toshiba he had in stock. It was the last one in stock and it was $193. He gave us his card and we went to do some comparable shopping. We found the exact same one in another shop for $210. We then went to another store where they had a no brand machine for less than $100. My husband was very skeptical. I told him I liked dealing with David and asked him if Visions was worth the extra $100. He said yes. Needless to say we called David to see how long he was open and told him we were on our way. When we got there, David had the machine ready for us to take away.

Will we go back to Visions? Absolutely! He had the right product for the right price and the customer service was excellent.

We then went for dinner at the Victoria Inn. We had certificate for a free entree with the purchase of another. We placed our order and the service was o.k. When the the entree arrived the steak skewers I ordered as medium rare, was well done. When informing the waitress of the problem she said she could get me another one. I was hungry and did not want to wait. She said I could eat the one I had and she would still bring me another. I declined because I knew I couldn't eat that much or, shouldn't eat that much. I don't know her name but she was friendly, compassionate and she smiled.

When the manager, Brendan Carmichael (I think that is his name) came around and asked if everything was alright, we informed him about the well done steak. He said he would do something about it and he did. He didn't charge us for either entree so all we paid for was the appetizers and our drinks. This certainly was a pleasant surprise! Will we go back? Absolutely because all though there was a problem, the problem was fixed to our satisfaction.

What is Good Customer Service

What are some of the ways various businesses can provide excellent customer service?

• Remember that you are there to serve the customer. If you don't have customers you don't have a business or a job. Happy customers keep coming back. I think many places have forgotten rule 1 "The customer is always right." Rule 2 is: See rule 1.

• Listen to your customer. There is nothing more annoying than someone telling you their policies without actually listening to what you have to say. The best sales person will listen to what you are saying so that they can sell you the product you actually want.

• Handle the complaints. You probably won't always be able to provide perfect customer service to everyone. When you have a complaint, fix it. Make sure your customer will want to come back regardless of the service this time.

• Be careful of your reputation. Remember that your customer will probably tell others about your service, whether it was good or bad. When I teach customer service courses, I always have examples to share about both good and bad customer service and the companies that provided each type.

• Always keep your promise. Another frustrating aspect about businesses is when they tell you something will be delivered on a certain day and it doesn't come until the next week. If you tell a customer "I will get that for you right now." get it right now, don't go do something else.

• Smile. If you don't like your job, find one that you do. It isn't the customer's fault that you have had a bad day. A customer deserves to be served by friendly smiling staff, it makes everyone's experience more enjoyable.

• If you have staff train them. If you don't know how to train them to provide excellent customer service, spend the money to hire someone who does. The money spent will increase your business and your bottom line.

• Be helpful. If a customer asks where something is, don't just say aisle 3, show them where it is. They may have more questions when they see the product they are searching for.