Thursday, October 13, 2022

The Difficult Customer and the Good Customer in Small Business Development (Esky Polo Mallet Example)

Customers are the lifeline to any business and you will want to do your best to ensure you keep them as happy as possible! Happy customers become repeat customers! This is one the reasons why we have easy return policies, answer questions, allow for customization and other special requests that help customers feel like their needs are being met. Sometimes, despite your best efforts you might still come across a customer that doesn't like your product for whatever reason.  

The more unique your business, the more likely you will have a certain percentage of customers that love your business and a certain percentage of customers that don't understand it. Before you pull your hair out in frustration be mindful that unhappy customers can be an amazing source of information. They will tell you the things you might not want to hear.

You have an obligation to find out from customers what they don't like so you can consider that information in changing your approach. For examples, my mallets started out pretty terrible and I sold them cheap in exchange for feedback (i.e. like an informal customer market study) and each time I got the feedback I improved the mallet and sold another trying to raise the price and quality.

I have two examples Customer Joe and Customer Angie that might help us understand the value of positive and negative feedback.  

Customer Joe: Asked about sizes and then ordered two mallets. He did not like the handles and the thin shaft. He said the quality is poor and the handles are not big enough. He asked for a return and even called them "poo poo". We have an easy return policy. No worries!

Curious about his comments we asked Joe for some advice on how to improve our product so we can improve our start-up (i.e. continuous improvement and CRM). To our amazement he said that the quality of the mallet was actually good but he has very large hands and most mallets don't fit him well (Once I received the return I also noticed the handle felt a little thin. Since these are handmade there may have been a little too much variability in product outcomes. To solve this we should implement an inspection step to ensure consistency. Thanks Customers Joe!)

We were unaware our unhappy customer had a great need for a much wider handle and we could have customized and resolved this issue for him. Turning that frown upside down! 😟😁  Next time someone wants to return a product let us talk with them and see what we can do to improve. (It actually costs small business when a customer initiates a return. In my case like $20.)

The second follow up response we got from our customer offered a more objective analysis than his first assessment and that allowed us to gain some deeper feedback. We want to minimize incorrect product understandings customers may have so we went back and reviewed our listing to ensure it has the most accurate information as possible. 

We checked our listings for accuracy and made a few small tweaks when we found something didn't match. All in All the listing information was accurate. You can see see the Ebay listing HERE. Some tweaks included making certain characteristics more obvious.  What we did learn is that we have to connect with customers and know our customer, know our customer and know our customer.

Customer Angie

Angie bought a mallet a few months ago and loved it! She used her mallet regularly and sent us comments stating she loved the quality, loved how light it was, and enthusiastically said the mallet helped her become a better player! 

She bought another one! That is what want to see!

When customers are happy they come back over and over because your product is associated with positive feelings. They also give good ratings and refer their friends to buy from your company as well. In our market we would want polo trainers and club managers to refer us to their clients. Keeping our customers happy is central to our strategic approach. 

Business Lesson 1: Positive and negative customer feedback can provide insight into the product. Using that information to improve the product and/or service leads to continuous improvement. 

Business Lesson 2: Ask lots of questions and find ways to turn customer concerns into opportunities for future products/services.

Escanaba Polo Mallet Company isn't just a mallet company we want to teach others what we discover from launching a business with under $500 in capital. We are a good works company that includes good works and public benefit in our ROI. 

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Detroit Polo Club August 28th, 2022 Merle Memorial Tournament


Sun, Aug 28 11:50 AM - 12:00 PM
Howell, MI.


Merle Memorial Tournament

Join us to remember Detroit Polo Club founder Merle R. Jenkins. A true legend and horseman of the polo community here in Detroit and beyond. Meet us after the match and raise a glass in honor of Merle!

Get more information HERE.








Friday, August 19, 2022

Polo Fitness Advice: Complex movements leads to stronger game play!

I am a fitness trainer certificate and of course also a busy professional and an amateur polo player. With all the things going on I rarely take clients but I do like to share knowledge with my fellow polo players. The advise is geared toward people with busy lives that work as desk jockeys, have limited time and want to double up on activities to get stronger for their on field games. 

First, let me say that staying in shape even if you are spending time on competing goals is important for the achievement of those initiatives. For example, with the right exercises you will be a better polo player. Not only will you feel more confident and aware, you will also have the stamina needed to make it through your work day and out on the field. (Cognitive and physical benefits). 

Over the years I thought about doubling up on different fitness categories to help save time. Creating combinations of strength, flexibility, cardio, and balance are helpful for maximizing time in gym.

What I have done as of late is use lighter/medium weights (15 - 20 reps) to create cardo oriented movements while increasing muscle strength. The increased movement under load changes the way in which the body reactions to blending strength and cardio (Cardio as in blood and oxygen moving.);

Complex activities are often a little better in cardio-weight blend as compared to simple movements such as a standard bicep curl. Movement with multiple components encourages the stabilizer muscles to activate in an effort to support body balance. Likewise, such a method has secondary benefits of  avoiding exercise habituation where returns decrease.

You might want to look around on the Internet for examples of these complex movements. To give you a sense of search direction, I often think in terms of exercising functional muscles that are needed in work life (work, horses, swimming, bike riding, etc..) Find those exercises that will strengthen your ability function in those activities.

The HITT cardio-weight type approach uses lighter/medium weights mixed with complex movements that often leads to stronger stabilization/balance because  the body must learn to manage those weights at different angles and speeds. It would initiate three areas of benefit (weights, balance, and cardio) by the same activity. 

I try and stay active, I know many of you do too, when you can save time by completing multiple types of expertise at once makes sense to me.

Sometimes having a little help if you are new to fitness can go a long way. If you need a little virtual help I have fitness trainer, yoga and self defense certifications. Limited space and availability. Email Fitness Training