I received a request from “Kent” who taught guitar lessons. He wanted advice about building up his business. Signing up new students had been going slowly even though he had offered a 30-day money back guarantee. He felt this was not very effective. I asked Kent how many students pay for their own lessons as compared to having their parents pay.  About 60% of the students are paid for by their parents. Since the others are over 18, they generally pay for their own lessons.

“Jim” developed a nice Michigan business over 15 years of washing cars at people’s homes. He offered an old-fashioned hand washing for $30 to $40 for a van or a larger vehicle. He developed a steady clientele of customers who liked this service. All they had to do was pull the car out of the garage without having to take it anywhere. In addition the car didn’t have to go through a harsh carwash. With Michigan’s regular summer rains and winter road salt, this developed into a popular service. He also serviced cars at a customer’s employment location. They liked driving to work with a dirty car in the morning and going home with a clean vehicle in the afternoon.

“Martha” owns a house cleaning business and has struggled with employee turnover over for the past few years. While the business is profitable, she can’t afford higher wages for her three cleaning crews. Since just hiring workers without a target strategy would continue the employee revolving door problem, I suggested a different strategy.

I know that a publisher of a Christian newspaper is struggling.  This isn’t a new problem.  I have written before about the challenges facing print newspapers. When I talk to newspaper owners, they tell me about how the costs of organizing, printing and distributing the paper are high. They struggle with limited revenue for advertising.

“Tom” owned a local store selling printer cartridges and posted a sign announcing that he was going out of the business. The owner blamed a slow economy. Maybe; maybe not.

I purchased around $600 of cartridges over the past year. On two occasions, I stopped by before closing time to find a note posted: “Closed early.  Sorry.” Since I needed the cartridge I drove to Office Depot, another ten minutes away.  In each instance, Tom’s store lost a $50 sale.

Then, I experienced another issue with the store. I needed a cartridge, but it was out of stock. The owner promised to have one by the next day. I stopped by the next day, and no cartridge.  He promised to have one by the next day. Again, there were no cartridges when I returned. Again, Tom promised to make sure to have one in stock that he would hold for me.  I returned a third time a few days later.  He told me that he was sorry, but he sold the cartridge.  However, he told me that he could order another.  I’m sure he could have, but I drove back to Office Depot that day and in the future.   If others experienced my frustration, he went out of business due to poor service and not a poor economy.

Jesus taught, “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35, NIV)  We need to be ready to meet our customers’ needs and keep our promises to them.

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