Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You offer your services at a reduced cost.
This is the real-life decision that dressmaker Christine Ryan would make.
"It is always a judgment call. I will still [make less profit on the garment]
on occasion when I feel the future benefit will outweigh the current compromise."
Tailor John Philbeck agrees that keeping the customer happy can pay big
dividends in the future.
"Several years ago I made four jackets for a client. His wife selected
the fabric and the order was put into works. Several weeks after delivering
the garments to the home, I followed up with a phone call to her to see how
the coats were working out. She told me that her husband thought the fabric
was 'a little stiff.'
"Later that afternoon I went by and sat down with her again and showed
her another fabric that was much more expensive, but had a much better hand
and a selection that I knew he would like."
Philbeck replaced the coats -- at a cost of $2,000 -- with new ones and
the customer was very happy. "When his wife asked me how much they owed me,
I told her that I was more concerned in making her husband happy than I was
[about] making a quick buck."
Because of Philbeck's willingness to take a profit cut in order to
appease his customer, the end results paid him huge dividends.
"That Christmas [the customer's wife] bought him over $12,000 worth
of clothing. Since then, I make all his clothes, as well as all their sons'
clothes and their friends' clothes, too."