July 2011
The Tattoo Shop Lesson By Pete Mihalek

If a tattoo shop owner knows the importance of virtual customer feedback, is there any reason you don’t?

The tattoo shop on the corner of my street knows the virality of word of mouth. The tattoo industry, in general, thrives on referrals and repeat business, so it should go without saying that a welcoming, clean and unintimidating experience can go a long way.

With a variety of business rating and review websites out there like Yelp, the shop’s owner Omar says, “There’s no room in this world for a bad attitude (toward customers), especially when you’re a small business owner.”

When I checked out the shop’s profile on Yelp, I was surprised to find a string of near flawless customer comments — “The staff was friendly and the place is clean with good music and a welcoming vibe. I will definitely return” and “The ideal place for a wary 53-year-old mom to go for her first tattoo.”

I feel a little ignorant assuming that rough and tough tattoo artists couldn’t care less about the feelings and opinions of visitors to their shop. But hey, if these guys know the importance of customer service, there’s no reason you wouldn’t.

How attuned are you to what people on the World Wide Web are saying about your business? Try Googling your garden center’s name — you’re bound to come across a comment or two from a customer. If they’re positive words, congrats and keep up the good work. But if they happen to be less than desirable, the last thing you should do is blow it off as just “another crazy customer.”

Back to Business
Speaking of Yelp, the press manager at Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco explained to me how they approach online customer reviews of their business:

“They provide important feedback that customers will generally not give you (in person). But, it is important to remember who the people are who put reviews on these kinds of sites. To make a broad generalization, they’re young. Which means they are not our core customer, as our core customers are a little older. So certain kinds of feedback like complaints about poor service are valuable. Others, like complaints about our prices, are not as valuable.

“Generally, complaints about customer service are informative and useful. They can be really hard to read, and it is important to keep it all in context. There are few other ways to know how your customers feel about your staff.”

From a Friend
My best friend Neil is the consumer insights analyst for greeting-card powerhouse American Greetings. A couple years ago, we were talking, to some extent, about customer service. He responded to something I said with, “The average person will tell three people if they had a good customer service experience, but will tell eight if the experience was bad.”

That’s something to keep in the front of your mind, and while you’re at it, find the time to see what some of your (un)satisfied customers are saying about you virtually. You might be surprised.



Pete Mihalek

Pete is the managing editor of Lawn & Garden Retailer.