DSG Stories Issue #3

2016 • ISSUE 3

STORIES Building Your Business One Idea At A Time

A Positive Spin On Negative Reviews Most contractors look at online review websites like Yelp and Angie’s List as either great marketing (when they get good reviews) or an unfair pulpit given to unreasonable crackpots (when they get bad reviews). There is one thing that everybody agrees on, however: the lack of control afforded by these websites can make you feel utterly and completely powerless.

As is the case with so much in business, your success in interacting with these online rating services depends almost entirely on your attitude. If you choose to ignore them – or worse, use them to argue with customers – they can hurt your business significantly. However, if you accept the democracy of the internet as the new normal, online reviews can actually become a big part of your company’s success story – even when they are negative!

Here are three tips for making the lemons into lemonade when it comes to negative online reviews: 1. Don’t Get Defensive (ever) Think back to the times that you have been disappointed in customer service from a company you do business with. Did you want it to give you excuses or insults? Even if the customer is unreasonable, wait until you are calm and take the high road.

2. Look At A Negative Review As An Opportunity Not only should you be grateful for the reviewer pointing out a problem that you can now fix (“I need to remind Clyde to clean up after the job”), you get the opportunity to show off your customer service skills in front of the world. That’s a good thing.

Many of the best customer service stories start off with a problem, after all, and a review site lets the world watch as you make it right.

In fact, experts from Forbes and INC Magazine all suggest that you respond to every review if possible. With work, you can turn almost all of them into wins.

3. You Can’t Change A Review, But The Reviewer Can In other words, all you have to do to change that negative review into a positive review is to change the unhappy customer

Our Dickinson, ND, Location

In This Issue •Customer Reviews • Customer Service Guarantee • On-site Trailers • Trivia www.dakotasupplygroup.com into a happy one. That’s Basic Business 101, and you probably do it every day over the phone and in person. Just do it online and watch what happens.

Finally, it goes without saying that the very best way to make an online review site work for your business is to generate more positive reviews. Get your team, your systems and your products on the same page, and you will end up with a lot more satisfied customers. Then make it a habit to tell them that you appreciate any positive feedback they can provide, including online reviews. Great businesses tend to get great online reviews. It’s word of mouth – only faster.

Good news! You have more control of your online reviews than you thought you did! Now put them to work for your business.

TOM’S CURRENT Preaching To The Choir Have you ever had someone tell you that you are “preaching to the choir”? It’s an old chestnut that means, roughly, “trying to convince someone who already believes.” But it occurred to me that it also has a related application when it comes to customer service and word-of-mouth advertising.

We all know that unhappy customers are significantly more likely to spread the word about a customer service episode. It’s human nature. It’s predictable that the guy who feels like he didn’t get his money’s worth will jump on the internet and blast you while the three customers who were overjoyed with your service in the same day just go back to their lives without saying a word. Those satisfied customers are the world’s quietest choir.

The only way to ensure that your “positive choir” drowns out the “negative soloists” is to make sure that it has enough singers.

Find ways to ask for feedback

STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 3

without begging. Reward customers for telling their friends by creating a simple referral program. Don’t get me wrong. It’s important that you make up for those instances where your service came up short (even if it wasn’t your company’s fault), but you shouldn’t neglect the choir. Loud supporters are the best advertising for any business.

The good old 80/20 rule still applies in this high-tech age: 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers. Concentrate a little extra energy on giving your best customers the means to be heard. Positive energy is even more powerful than the negative kind – it’s just harder to come by sometimes. But if you put in the work to talk to your supporters, it pays off. Better yet, do what you can to invite your disappointed customers to join the chorus as well.

Preach to your choir! Once they’re loud enough, they can make beautiful music for your business.

SUCCESS CONNECTOR Powerful Promises

DSG Introduces The Customer Service Guarantee To Our Austin, Rochester And Winona Branches In March 2013, DSG made three promises to our customers: 100 percent order accuracy, 2 business day stock credit and Top 200 items always in stock. It is these three commitments that make up our Customer Service Guarantee, and if at any time we fall short of these promises, we give our customers a $25 certificate that they can redeem on future purchases.

Many DSG customers across the Midwest have enjoyed the improvements made as a result of upholding these three promises, and now, as of July 2016, customers served by our Austin, Rochester and Winona branches in southern Minnesota get to do so as well. Offering the Customer Service Guarantee to our customers served by Pipeline Supply, a division of DSG, is also in the plans for the future.

The Customer Service Guarantee serves as a daily reminder that every customer is considered a partner, and the success of our customers is the foundation of our own.

To learn more about DSG’s Customer Service Guarantee, speak with your DSG representative or visit www.dakotasupplygroup.com/csg.

POP Quiz Name one of the two current Winter Olympic events

3

What’s the most common item to get dropped down the bathroom sink?

(4) Air conditioner

2

that were once part of the Summer Olympics.

What Major League Baseball Hall of Fame player fouled off 24 pitches during a single at-bat in 1940, setting a record and eventually drawing a walk?

4

What appliance is credited as one of the biggest boosts to the movie industry during the 1920s?

(3) Luke Appling

(1) Figure skating and ice hockey (2) Jewelry

1

STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 3

SUBMIT YOUR OWN OUTDOOR PHOTOS, videos and stories to www.dsgoutdoors.com Box 13573 • Grand Forks, ND 58208-3573

Eric Sharpe, counter sales associate at DSG in Kalispell, MT, jumps off of “Big Nasty” on the Flathead River.

DSG On-Site Trailers: The Parts And Products You Need – Where You Need Them Time is money, especially when you’re a contractor on a tight deadline, and sending productive crew members off-site to get more parts slows down work flow and can delay a project. That is why DSG is helping its customers save time and resources with its on-site trailers.

On-site trailers are like having your very own DSG warehouse right on the job site. Once an order is placed, the trailer is stocked and organized in a way that works best for the project. It is then delivered and parked at the job site, complete with a receiver hitch lock to keep the product and trailer secure.

When more products are needed, customers simply place an order, and DSG will deliver the new products and stock the trailer. Once the project is complete, DSG will retrieve the trailer from the job site within 48 hours.

An on-site trailer from DSG: MINIMIZES project delays PROVIDES easy access to inventory IMPROVES productivity KEEPS inventory safe

Ask your DSG representative how you can improve productivity with an on-site trailer from DSG! STORIES | 2016 • ISSUE 3

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