Learning as I Go....

[jasonmunson]

Positive & Negative Feedback

My name is Jason Munson and I've been repairing pellet and gas stoves for over 15 years. A few years ago I started selling parts online and now it's a full time winter w business for me.
Earlier this year I had a brilliant idea! I was so excited about my idea that I immediately put it together and executed it the same day thinking that it would be great.
My idea was to send a note with my packages to thank you for buying a part from me and asking for you to leave feedback on EBay or Amazon regarding your purchase. I also created a note with some chocolate to send with the package requesting the same thing.
I thought that by doing this I would get more people leaving feedback. The fault in my logic was I thought people would leave only POSITIVE feedback when the reality was I was just encouraging feedback, good or bad.
Imagine my shock when I started to get more and more negative and neutral feedback. My mind was screaming, “This is not what I wanted, why are people being so harsh on me?” I didn’t get it at first. It took a while for me to understand how I had created this for myself. It wasn’t that I was giving worse service. What I had done was give the wrong instructions. I assumed that my service was perfect and no one ever had a problem with it. In my arrogance I never even thought that anyone would ever think badly of me and leave negative feedback. Oh, how wrong I was in my assumptions. Talk about shooting myself in the foot. I may have severely hurt my brand and image for my customers.
Yesterday I received a Raincoat for my son I had bought off eBay and it had a note with it. After thanking me for buying it says;
“Please feel free to contact me and give me a chance to make things right before leaving negative feedback!! I’m more than willing to work with you on anything”
When I saw this I slapped my hand against my forehead and thought, “you arrogant idiot! You didn’t tell people what to do if they had an issue.” Because of this I’ve revised my follow-up messages to my customers to include instructions to contact me before leaving negative feedback so I can resolve the issue.
This is a tough way for me to learn this lesson. This could ruin this business for me and that is a scary thought because I provide for my family with this. To rectify this I’ve contacted each customer over the last year that had an issue with me and made amends with them as best as I can. Some have responded and taken down their negative feedback. Some have not responded.

This has been a valuable lesson for me. Hopefully it hasn’t damaged my reputation too badly. I’m always looking for ways to improve and I appreciate getting feedback that helps me serve others better. If you have an idea for me please feel free to write me at [email protected]

 

[Defiant]

What sort of and brand parts or services do you sell ? Is this the right forum? Not giving negative feedback just inquiring.

 

[smwilliamson]

The problem may be with your objectives. For example, you are hitting this forum with a "soft sell" for your pellet stove parts business while trying to appear objective. This isn't the place for it. Additionally, you come off a bit arrogant, at least to me. Your website, pelletstovepro.com sells you as "The World's #1 Pellet Stove Repair Expert". I chuckle. This summer I will eclipse my 7000 pellet stove service call, I let me reputation speak for itself.

Forget the tag lines. Be humble and truly WANT to help others, then do. The rest will come naturally. stop asking for approval and just get out there and earn it.

Perhaps you could rethink your marketing objectives and tactics. Spamming this forum will do more harm than good.

While I have garnered some work from this forum, I do not openly solicit and try to give way more than I take. You have 6 posts here. Contribute for the community's sake and check the ego at the door. *swallow*

As an aside, a friend of mine started a company called Snapgrow. Check out this link: http://snapgrow.com/repbooster

A product to help you with your exact problem.

Here is an excerpt:

There are many bad choices one can make in an effort to increase the volume of positive online reviews for their business. These bad choices include reviewing yourself and asking friends to review your business. Even simply asking your customers that you know are satisfied with your business to review you online is a tactically unwise move, as many of your customers that like your business have no track record of writing reviews online, and reviews from accounts that review just one business one time carry less weight, and they can be categorized as spam by Yelp, Google Places, and other review sites and aggregators.

JMHO

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Hi Jason,

Any feedback request can elicit other than desired results.

For example if you bill yourself as #1 you best not make even the slightest mistake and what your customer thinks is a mistake may not actually be a mistake, for example sending a combustion blower motor and impeller out in one package but two separate pieces may be considered to be a mistake by a pellet stove owner.

BTW, the mints were good.

Please take Scott's advice, hang here a bit and help some folks.

 

[smoke show]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^There is one happy customer for sure. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^There is one happy customer for sure. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well the motor is doing just fine and I'm warm, the package made it coast to coast in good time. What is not to like?

 

[DV]

Customer service is the number 1 ingredient in TQM.

 

[smoke show]

What is not to like?

Just stating the obvious. Hope I didn't insinuate dissatisfaction.

 

[DexterDay]

Im with Scott on this. I remeber your first post (jason). There was someone on here slamming your product/service.

All companies are going to have issues. You cant be the Top Dog, without just being a Dog 1st.

You seem like a nice guy. Your prices are fair. But it seems like your "fishing" for something here??

I regularly talk about one dealer on this Forum. But he has earned my respect and I truly see him as a Man worth reference. I try to refrain most times. But if someone is close and it seems worth there while, I am more than willing to tell them about him. A good company and/or dealer for pellet stove parts is crucial to keep burning for cheap (why most of us burn.. To save money $$) !!

So if you get a "following" from people like Smokey (and many others here who have prob ordered from you) they will naturally say Great Things when someone asks for a place to find dependable and quality pellet stove parts.

Not hating on you. You wanted good and bad feedback. Im sure your a nice guy and worked your @$$ off to get where you are at now. I give you Kudos for that. But your business structure and sales pitch just comes on strong here... IMO

Hope to see you around more often. Someone with that many yrs of experience and knowledge can be of great assistance here. Keep doing what you can to be the best at what you do. Be honest and do whats right. The rest just follows.

Good luck. Keep on keepin on....

 

[Eatonpcat]

You cant be the Top Dog, without just being a Dog 1st

I wonder...Does this Top Dog theory Apply to the Mad Dog???