The Business of Being in Business: Listen to Your Customers

In the past two weeks, I've received a fair amount of orders, which have kept me busy and quite pleased. I've dealt with numerous customers, but two of them have offered input that I found extremely helpful.

The first customer had a question about one of my photos for my Pinkleberry Drops earrings. One of the cranberry pearls had a funny looking reflection on it, and when I checked the photo and then the earrings, it seemed there was a small defect on the bead (I thought it was just showing up in the photo).

What did this teach me? Check and double-check my product as I assemble it.

We all have to deal with this...especially when you get to the point where you make multiple quantities of an item. We can easily fall into "the groove" where we start putting things together and become very efficient at it. Sometimes, we forget to continuously examine and evalute our product, making sure that it is 100% "customer ready." I can tell you, it won't happen here again!

I was thankful that my customer pointed this out for me. Luckily, since the item is made to order, I didn't send her the earrings that were in the photo (that bead, actually, is now in the trash).

The second example happened this week. I had a customer who bought a pair of my Santa Fe Teardrops earrings. If you see the photo, you'll notice that I hammer out the ear wires so they're flat. My customer e-mailed me and asked if she could return the earrings because the wires didn't fit her piercings. I was really bummed about this, and offered to make her a new pair of ear wires with a thinner gauge of wire, without the "hammered" look (no charge, of course!). She was more than pleased and left me very positive feedback! I was also very happy that I could accommodate her.

What did this teach me? Provide my customers with options.

From now on I'll be adding a note to my earring descriptions, informing customers who have smaller ear openings that I can provide them with a different set of ear wires if they choose. Had this person not spoken up, I may have turned away some potential customers and lost some sales!

So, your lesson for today is to listen to your customers. Check your feedback, check your convos, check your e-mail, and see if any of the information you received could be turned into a positive change regarding the way you do business. We are here to serve our customers. As sellers, we need to be attuned to their needs and ready to accommodate them as necessary. Without their input and their shopping savvy, we wouldn't be here in the first place.