There’s a lot of great advice on Spin Sucks about effective marketing and public relations techniques, designed to draw customers into your store or to visit your website.

But getting them there is only part of the battle.

What happens during their initial experience—or with any experience along the path toward purchasing your product or service—makes all the difference between a possible brand ambassador, and a person whose face (and money) you’ll likely never see again.

Given this incontestable law of the jungle, I’m always amazed when I (or many people I know) experience poor customer service.

With all the things a small business owner can’t control— where customers choose to shop, when they feel like doing so, how much money they’re willing to spend—it seems more attention should be paid to those situations and experiences where their employee (or business processes) can set the tone for a happy customer encounter, rather than a maddeningly frustrating one. (more…)