Product or service quality

As the owner of a small business, you are ultimately responsible for the quality of the product or service you and your employees produce. That means part of what you do every day is follow up with customers to make sure that they are pleased and would do business with you again. One advantage of a small business, after all, is that you can have this kind of direct contact.

If problems arise — and they inevitably do — you have to weigh customer service against the cost of redoing some or all of the work or replacing a product. Customers know that mistakes happen, and they’re usually forgiving if you address the problem quickly and fairly. For example, you might reduce the cost somewhat or offer to provide an additional service at a discount — or if it’s small enough, for free.

There are no hard and fast rules for deciding how to accommodate someone who is unhappy, but remember it’s harder and more expensive to get new customers than to keep the ones you already have. Word-of-mouth advertising can either help or hurt your business. So once you’ve established a reputation, good or bad, it stays with you for a long time.