Raul Colon - photographer, digital marketer & writer living on the beach in Puerto Rico.

I support causes by supporting individuals.

Prioritizing Your Customers

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213085702_8d5e812d9d_z Prioritizing Your Customers

Business can be slow at times and some small business owners like myself, end up making decisions that might be detrimental to us in the long run.

I base many of my business decisions on my gut feeling and how I feel around the people I am doing business with. Once I have a client and I establish a business relationship trust becomes an essential part of that relationship.

Sometimes I get too attached to my clients and it can also backfire on me.

Treating My Old and New Customers Like Rock Stars

I am always very appreciative of having old customers they are a top priority for me. Especially in cases where my business is only 3 years old and I have clients that have been with me for more than 16 years.

I am a big believer in treating all your customers  in the best way possible. Making sure that does that put their trust and appreciate what you do continue doing business with you.

Let them Know They Mean Something to You

I never change established rates or service fees. The same way I don’t enjoy getting charged more for a service all of a sudden, I don’t like to make my oldest clients feel as if am trying to squeeze them out of more money even when it might not be profitable for me.

Quick Response

I respond to most of my customers in a timely manner no matter what day or time it is.  I make sure I get to  my clients needs before my own.

Quick Solution

When a client makes a request I want to work on the solution as quick as possible. Even if I have to hire extra help to make sure a solution is provided quickly and done the right way I am willing to invest in the relationship I have with my customer.

I Send Business Their Way

I primarily support those that support me. I try to make it possible for everyone I know to support my customers.

If you are looking for a specific product or service I make sure you go to the one’s that support me:

  • If you need to buy insurance I recommend you to go to Romybaez.com.
  • If you are looking to stay in San Juan I direct you towards the San Juan Water and Beach Club.
  • If you need your bathroom remodeled I send you to Clear View.
  • If you need flowers and plants Tropicalbloompr.com
  • If you live in Chicago or are visiting and need a quick meal I recommend you to visit foodtruckfreak.com.
  • Looking for a Restaurant in the South Part of Puerto Rico Archipielago might be your choice to enjoy an amazing meal.

Free Advice

Although I love sharing ideas with everyone, (this blog and my corporate blog) if you are a client I make sure I share the best advice with the purpose of helping your company succeed.

I make sure that I let them know I care for them and I want them to succeed. I treat them, as I would want to be treated. I always answer all their questions and try to share my knowledge in areas they want to learn more.

Overall my main purpose in treating my loyal clients in such a way because I want them to succeed.

There are exceptions to these and after 3 years of being on my own I can clearly see how I might need to modify some of these to make my business profitable and stay in the green.

Do you prioritize your customer’s needs?

What do you offer to make sure you are going the extra mile?

photo credit by Banalities

3 Movies a $700 dollar gift & not even a Thank you from Netflix

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Screen-shot-2011-07-13-at-2.34.42-PM 3 Movies a $700 dollar gift & not even a Thank you from Netflix

I had this post scheduled to come out the next few days but since I saw how I am not the only one dissapointed with Netflix I decided to publish this today. This is another post how Netflix has dissapointed me in the past.

I was a satisfied @netflix customer until they decided to raise my prices last November while their service was limited. I cancelled Netflix and also wrote  “Was I a @netflix Platinum Customer?” back in November.

I have a bank account that is my emergency fund. I never even look at that account especially since the funds in that account are for extreme emergencies. I only check that account every once in a while. Since I am a new dad, there are even more tasks added to my already busy schedule that I really did not look at the bank account for a quite a long time. A few days ago I decided to look at my bank account and I realized I was getting charged over $21 from Netflix. When I told them I cancelled  the service, they told me that yes it was cancelled but they where charging me for another Netflix account. They quickly told me to call my bank and report fraud.

It was not Fraud

Back in October of 2008 I had given someone a Netflix gift card so they could try it out for 6 months. The curious part was I had only agreed to pay 6 months. After that, I ran into financial hardships add that to the issues I had with having my house foreclosed and many other issues really put my finances out of control (and I have to say that is my fault).

So I called Netflix and they did say that they had sent the last movie in October and November 2008. Which means the subscription was not even used. So since 2008 Netflix has charged me over $700 for movies that where not returned.

As a customer I put my trust in them by investing in their services. I tried to get them another customer to try their service. And you know what they decided to do about my situation?  They told me they would reimburse the last $21 dollars that where charged to my account and would keeping the rest.

Different to other places I was not even offered the opportunity to talk to a manager and after I requested one and spending a few hours on the phone I realized that they where clearly not going to do anything about it. They really did not care that I paid for two accounts.

I was clearly planning to return with them since they offer streaming to Puerto Rico but with the gift card incident, I am clearly not going to support them.

Kicking the Person when they are Down

Netflix clearly takes advantages of these situations although they could see the account had no activity. I had originally bought a gift card, and the amount charged to my account was ridiculous. They clearly said it was their business model and I am not the only one it has happened to. I have to say it was my fault for trusting Netflix in doing the right thing but then again you can clearly see they are another greedy Corporation just trying to take money away from our pockets not really caring for their customers.

Was this completely legal or ethical? I will let you be the judge.

I can clearly give them an F in customer service and I have no doubt about that. Are there any more Netflix stories regarding accounts being charged that where dormant and it was clear the person did not use the service.

They Don’t want to ship DVD’s but I have to Mail my complaint

I tried to contact @netflix but they said I had to send a letter via Snail Mail ( yes it’s 2011 and I have to mail a complaint). I guess they try there best in creating more business for the USPS but really don’t want to deal with solving an issue like mine.

As of the moment @netflix’s has replied with a few tweets that have not provided me a solution or an answer. 

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/Netflixhelps/status/89098928728981504″]

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/Netflixhelps/status/90477898699517953″]

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/Netflixhelps/status/90544227699802112″]