Gotta Love Customers

WHAT TESTS DO YOU NEED?
All of them.
YOU MEAN AMMONIA, NITRITE, AND NITRATE?
Yes, and Phosphorus, Alkalinity, Calcium, pH, Salinity, and Magnesium.
THERE'S CUSTOMERS ALL OVER THE STORE....CAN I CALL YOU WITH THE RESULTS LATER?
It shouldn't take that long....besides, I have a bunch of questions you can answer while you do the tests.
HERE ARE YOUR RESULTS.
{Customer pulls out a piece of paper and looks at what I produced and said, "Good. It matches exactly what I got"}
AAAARRRGGGHH!!!! (Obviously not said out loud)
DID YOU NEED ANY FISH, CORAL, FOOD, SALT, ETC?
Not unless you can give me the sale price on the Nassarius Snails.....that's a great price on them but the sale is for 10 and I only want 3.

 

+1 for customers. 8)

 

did he get a discount for block testing?

Steve

 

LOL sounds like me! except, meh that fish is listed for $50 will you take 40? hahaha

 

LOL....testing is free.

 

free

wow, what time do you open?

 

Free? Charge $3 per test and discount it with purchase of livestock.

In my business my worst CSI scores are always due to "free" things. I quit giving away car washes and started charging $5 and now my survey scores are significantly higher. If it's free it's has no value to the customer, you could even donate the testing proceeds to charity to get some great PR.

Or schedule it. Figure out your slowest times and post that you offer free tests during those hours. Could help you boost your slower times and save you from the headache. And since you charge $3 per test at other times, people will feel like they really got something.

 

What kills me is they ask all the questions, complain the price is high, buy something inexpensive, and pay with a $50 or $100 that they have a thick stack of.

 

Yah...I feel bad when all I need week after week is a few gallons of r/o water

But my tank is already full! ;D

The only testing that my lfs does that I'm aware of is strips...and that doesn't give me too much info.

 

Don't get me wrong. I only work Sunday's these days. We run lean and mean and it's often only Matt and I. There are times when my customers are psuedo-employees. They bag fish and corals, they fill gas cans with with filtered water, they know I've broken my back and they carry heavy things for me. They take care of me, I take care of them. It all works out.

There are also people who have no morals and will ask you questions for hours on end and then order online to save $20. LOL I'm glad my years of experience is worth NOTHING to you. It's definitely worse in the dry goods area. As far as livestock goes, most customers want to eyeball that puppy, if it's a fish, watch it eat, and take my recommendations. (Besides, once you add shipping, they really aren't saving any money at all anyway).

I consider the customer I mentioned in the previous post to be nothing but a USER and not a customer. I pulled up his account when ringing him out. In the previous 12 months, he had purchased a total of $28. He wanted free advice and testing for free. (Not charging for testing is the norm in our market so it would be hard to charge for it).

I know why a lot of LFS's only do strip testing. It's to compensate for people like the above customer. However, as stated previously, the VAST MAJORITY of my customers would be people who would say, "You're swamped....just call or email me with the findings". I personally don't think using test strips appropriate.....pretty much darn useless. I will gladly take the time for a REAL test knowing there are idiots abusing the system for the benefit of my great customers wanting a good result.