Being a good customer

[indigo_rose99]

What makes a good customer? 

Ideally, I want my customers to be frequent in their business, clear in communicating their achievable-by-me wishes, and prompt in their payment. 

I used to use (company chosen) Kinkos to make student handouts for my classes in California.  They charged huge rates for shipping, often misprinted the orders, and about a third of the time decided  that they could not make my arrive-by deadline. Of course, I would find this out only far too late to take my business elsewhere.  I hated them.

I have recently changed to a small local printer I found on the internet.  They are very near my ship-to address and have charged me a negligible amount for shipping ($6 for the most recent order, I think).  One time during an order conversation the guy said, "Oh, that's on my way home.  I'll just drop it off."  They have always delivered on time.  I have not noticed a single mistake in the printing.

I ordered the printouts for this week several weeks ago, before I left for Denmark.  I promised in my online what-I-want description that I was good for the money, though I could not arrange payment until I had returned from overseas.  Today when I called to hand over my credit card, they gave me a discount for paying within 10 days.  *surprised blink* 

During my online ordering process, I say things like "Put colored pages between the chapters. You choose the color."  During this order, I did not get a single call or email from the printer asking me questions about the binding or the cover.  They made those choices.  I did my best to make clear the points I care about, and told them outright to make decisions on the rest.

Could I be their ideal customer? 

Comments

[cat-napp.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but they sure sound like an ideal printer! Hooray for small businesses--they'll go the extra mile in order to effectively compete against larger chains. I try to "buy local" whenever I can, and these guys sound totally worth it.

[fraeuleinchen.livejournal.com]

*like*

[ovrclokd.livejournal.com]

yes. and they definitely sound like your ideal printer. this is why i don't use kinkos - because they deal in volume, and they just don't have to care. the little, local guys? they care. and when you care, too, they appreciate it. :)

[reedrover]

I *like* it.