Two posts ago I was writing about some customer service issues I had with Sears.  This topic deserves one more post to bring to it to closure!  While out on my planning trip this past week, my son brought this compressor to a friend’s house.  It turns out that a capacitor used to start the motor had a cracked housing.  My friend was able to repair the housing without purchasing any additional parts, and I am back in business for 0$.  That’s right, my 230 something dollar quote from sears was fixed by a friend without replacing to motor, and without replacing the capacitor (if you read the post, you recall that Sears simply left me a message saying “My motor had to be replaced for $235).

The problem here is simple; the technician is programmed to replace parts regardless of whether they actually need replacing, and when a part is no longer made with their brand on it, they are not programmed to advise…We are all in business to make money, but when a fix can be made with a $2 part from Radio Shak (or simply repaired with glue, etc.) the value the consultant brings is in their advice not to spend more money.  Customer loyalty depends on the customer feeling like they can really trust the person advising, and when the advice is easily challenged and the fee reduced by orders of magnitude, somehow the customer is left feeling less than confident in the service they are receiving.

Whatever position you are in, study and equip yourself to give the best answers, even if it reduces the size of your initial sale.  In the long run, it will pay off.  What are the chances of me recommending you head to the Sears Services Center (as the customer sat. form reads 0 – 10…hmmm).

© 2012, David Stelzl