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The Profitable Horseman's Newsletter The only weekly electronic newsletter published for Professional Horsemen.
December 8, 2006

If you are working long hours for short profits in your horse business, you owe it to yourself to think about making changes. I help professional horsemen find new and better methods to add to the profitability of their businesses.
Welcome New Subscribers!

in this issue
  • There is Something New Every Day in my Blog About the Horse Business

    click on the picture below
  • Handling Customer Complaints and Problem Customers
  • Need Help With Your Business Borrowing?
  • Others have said
  • Back at the Barn
  • Build the Horse Business You've Always Wanted
  • Speaking about the Horse Business...

  • Handling Customer Complaints and Problem Customers
    upset man

    Customers can exist without your business, but your business cannot exist without customers.

    Expectations of customers have risen along with the “you owe me something for nothing attitude” of society. Customers and clients can be more difficult to please than ever before due to the evolution of instant gratification and attitudes, which are summed up by the thought, “all problems in my life are the fault of someone other than me.”

    Dealing with customer problems in the horse business is no easy chore. In addition to all of the other problems common with any business, the occasional unpredictability of the customers’ relationship with horses compounds the chance for problems. You may have noticed that the behavior of horses is more predictable than the behavior of some clients.

    Customer problems will be resolved. Your choice as the owner of a horse business is to resolve them now or wait for them to be fixed later. Delay is the default method for fixing your customer problems and the most costly financially and emotionally. If you have ever postponed solving a customer problem (who hasn’t?) you know what I mean about the emotional drain of unsolved problems. It’s messy.

    Here are some tips in dealing with angry customers.

    1. Hear the customer story and acknowledge the anger. Don’t defend, explain, pass fault or cause, just hear the story and let the customer do some venting and get the feeling out of the system. Some people need to stomp their feet a little to feel acknowledged.
    2. By diffusing the anger you’ll be in a better position to negotiate a solution successfully. Have you ever won an argument with an angry person? It can’t be done.
    3. Talk slower and softer than the customer. It works by helping to counteract adrenalin overdoses.
    4. Ask what it will take to solve the problem and repeat this back to the customer in your own words to make the understanding clear.
    5. Begin the process of solving the problem.

    Why do you want to put all of this effort into customer problems? Because problems with customers demand energy, attention and disrupt the normal flow of business. And that lowers profit margins.

    What if you can’t make the customer happy?

    • Charge more for personal demands above the normal level of service when it absolutely positively has to be done right now, Think about overnight letter delivery. Sure we can do it and you will pay for it.
    • Send a “Dear John” letter. Not apologizing, but simply stating we cannot provide the services you need and expect and suggest that you find someone who is able to deliver that level of service since we have done all that we can. Sometimes, customers need to be fired.

    Dealing with customer complaints and problem customers is not a fun part of being in the horse business. The quickest way to get back to doing the fun stuff is taking care of the problems as they occur.


    Need Help With Your Business Borrowing?
    close 100 bill

    Call or email me about your business loans. We can put together a plan that makes sense for you.


    Others have said

    "Focus 90% of your time on solutions and only 10% of your time on problems." -- Anthony J. D'Angelo

    "Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe." -- Robert Service

    "An undefined problem has an infinite number of solutions." -- Robert A. Humphrey


    Back at the Barn
    back at barn

    Sometimes I get distracted from moving forward on new projects by worrying about and dwelling on past mistakes. When past "ghosts" show up, I have a personal mantra I like to repeat to clear the thoughts.

    The expression is quite simply, "Don't Look Back." When I remind myself that dwelling on the past has no useful benefit, it helps my focus.

    I read a blog titled Gaping Void by Hugh MacLeod. Hugh, a marketing specialist, started drawing cartoons on the backs of business cards and began to publish these drawings along with his blog entries. He is fond of "mini manifestos" and has written several himself.

    He has been posting manifestos written by others, including marketing maven Seth Godin, for the past few weeks if they meet his simple requirements: less than 500 words and he likes the theme.

    I put together a manifesto about my "Don't Look Back" mantra (horse related of course) this week and was honored that he published it on his blog.

    WARNING: Hugh uses some strong language from time to time and if you are offended by spicy and salty wording, don't click through.

    Click here to read Don't Look Back on Gaping Void. It is posted on December 5, 2006


    Build the Horse Business You've Always Wanted
    dee oct 06

    I work with Professional Horsemen who are struggling with the business half of the horse business. Just like a top performing horse has a strong foundation, so does a top performing horse business.

    If you've had enough with disappointment in your horse business, call or e-mail and we can talk about your business and how I may be able to help you.

    If you know other horsemen who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them! I am on a quest to tell 1000 people what I do and I need your help.

    Life is short,

    Ride hard.

    Doug


    Speaking about the Horse Business...
    megaphone man

    Need a speaker about the horse business for your horse related organization? Talk to me about talking. Keynotes and workshops available. (716) 434-5371


    There is Something New Every Day in my Blog About the Horse Business

    click on the picture below
    herd of horses

    Click on the herd of horses above. They'll take you right to the blog. What's a blog? Click and find out!

    Click on the links below for more information

    Profitable Horseman Web Page

    Past issues of Profitable Horseman newsletter

    Professional Horsemen's Blog- Don't Look Back!



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