A Halloween Story: When Customers Haunt You

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Since it’s Halloween time in the USA, I thought I’d tell you a spooky little customer service tale.

It begins with glitter and sparkles and all the fun of an extravagant Event Celebration.

But, it involves an event business client-type, a favorite, as the main character—a bridezilla, in fact!

For sure, this is scarier than the “grumpy old men board” and an entire squabbling “bridesmaids committee” put together.

WARNING: These tales may be even more revolting than the over-intoxicated guest from hell.

An Educated Customer Won’t be Disappointed

The thing is…

It’s your job to educate the client so you can be sure to meet or exceed expectations and not fall short.

If you don’t honestly “tell” what you know, regardless of what your customer wants, thinks, or sometimes, like bridezilla, demands!…then, you’re setting yourself and your team up for failure.

For examples of what I mean, let’s start with bride type A—an overly demanding detailed scheduler who requires you spend a billion hours going over and over the same things.

The thing is, this bride type A presents the very same problem as bride type Z—the constant detail changer always with last minute and late revisions.

Both cost you. Time. Aggravation. Budget.

My easy solution is what I call a “Chicken Fee.” This means building in enough budget to make my insanity, and all the running around like a chicken I have to do for these kinds of clients, worth my while.

I’ll happily play the chicken game if they happily pay. Most of the time, they do so with no trouble at all.

See, I want customers who know what they want and like and are in-the-know about products and services. This way, I know I can meet the challenge every time. And make them happy. I’m detailed oriented too, and if you’re picky, then, we’re on the same page.

But, you can’t always solve client issues that easily.

Take the T bride type and her sister, corporate frazzled freak. These customers are frustrating because they want to organize and time tape you up like a mummy.

It’s your job to educate the client so you can be sure to meet or exceed expectations and not fall short.Click To Tweet

There’s NO Late in Business

Look, my attitude is, and always has been, there’s no late in business. But, I live in the real world and I’m a professional at what I do! And in the real world, I know stuff happens.

Like in one case with a bride T type, who has the whole team on edge for what is normally a simple, elegant and by event time, a breeze for crew…after all, the hard part’s done!

But this witch, I mean bride, has every single person on edge even on the Big Day.

And guess what happened to the meticulously timed schedule drilled-in from here to eternity for months bride?

As it turns out, sweet little grandma gets lost. The T type bride, now completely on fire, is begging for a halt to all activity. It seems the minister may not be as flexible as the rest of the event crew!

Every business needs a back-up-and-punt plan. Or, for you business school types, a contingency plan.

People in the event business know how to think on their feet, make the magic happen, and proceed—kind of like a ghost—as invisibly and seamlessly as possible.

These frantic overly-planned planner types sometimes need to know what you already do. Nothing in business is set in stone.

It’s the same problem when these time tickers expect big groups of people to do the impossible. They don’t understand that when people attend events, they often dress up as “sheeple.”

When you realize patterns in human behavior, you have an obligation to haunt poor miss bridezilla and frantic planners, alike, because you know you can’t feed hundreds of people in the too minimal allotted time schedule.

It’s just a matter of the scary truth. And human behaviors.

Honestly, You’re Nuts

The bottom line in this spooky little story is realizing honesty in business always works out better. Every time.

Don’t allow clients to cast a spell on you, making you agree to the impossible, sure to create a real business nightmare!

This blog post is based on a script from the MIX/SIZZLE&SHAKE Your Business Podcast, now playing. And remember, don’t scare away customers or spook them, even on Halloween:)