Or expand your office. American express open proudly presents your business on msnbc. Hi, everyone, im jj ramberg. Welcome to your business, the show dedicated to helping your Small Business grow. When a customer calls or emails with a complaint about your company, what do you do . Are you the type of owner who asks questions or do you just assume the customer is always right and do whatever it takes to fix the problem . The owner of a texas Garbage Company believes that, of course if theres an actual problem, it should be corrected. But he doesnt always assume theres an issue. Unlike many of his fellow Small Business owners, hes a Firm Believer that the customer is not always right. Its nasty, smelly, dirty. If i can get people to not think about what i do, im doing a good job. People hate their garbage, and Kevin Atkinson knows it. But to him, every trash can or recycling bin is actually an opportunity. I knew all along owning my own Garbage Collection Company was something i truly wanted to do. As the owner of texas pride disposal, kevin says his brand, like so many other garbage companies, has an image problem. Its very tough to garner respect for what we do. This is an industry where people, as long as it goes away, people dont think about it. Kevin needed a strategy to fight this negative perception. And so he and his staff focused on their clients. The service we deliver and the Customer Experience behind that, thats all i have to offer. Without a happy customer i have nothing. It is about the customer. Because if theyre not happy, nobodys happy. Weve got to impress these phonings in order to start to grow this business. But theres one part of the texas Pride Service philosophy that may leave some Small Business owners scratching their heads. The customer is not always right. They are right most of the time but theres certain instances where, you know, they push the boundary. This is approach came to live after years of interacting with clients. Theyre not always 100 honest with us. Theyre just trying to take advantage of the system. Its garbage. People want it to go away and they will sometimes do whatever they need to to make sure that it goes away. Well get somebody out there. Well get it cleaned up for you today. Every time a call or email comes in, kevin is curious about the nature of the complaint and whos making it. Heres just one example. When you get that customer that calls and says, your guys didnt pick up my garbage. All right, well, you know, thats what we do. We do this day in and day out. I cant see why they would have just missed yours. Are you sure it was out on time . Are you sure its something were supposed to pick up or is it something maybe thats hazardous that we cant pick up . Are you sure its not 100 bags and not 1 bag. The truth is most calls arent bad ones. Yes, maam, how can i help you today. Nine times out of ten its a misunderstanding on the customers part, you know, about what they can and cant put out for trash. But when more serious complaints come in, kevin has to take a more pragmatic view. He wont assume the customer is right. And thats for the sake of his team. Were there a million miles an hour as it is and keep piling on them every single customer issue that comes in and, hey, i dont care, the customer is right, fix it. I dont care what you do to fix it, it would be exhausting. Kevin has a unique perspective on the work his crews do. He knows them and he trusts them. Ive done it before. Its the hardest job ive ever had in my entire life. Texas pride balances its Customer Service approach by setting a high bar. Kevin doesnt want his clients to have i asingle reason to complain. I hold my guys to probably a higher standard than anyone in this market and most in the country, i would think. We do our best to be as customer oriented as possible, to go above and beyond. Everyone is serious about the guidelines. Field crews abide by rules of the road. Theyre reviewed constantly. You take pride, have loose trash that might have blown out of the container before we got there, pick that up. You put containers back properly. You dont leave them in the middle of a driveway or toss it halfway into their yard. The teams also function as the first line of defense. If theres a problem with the trash being picked up, customers are notified. We have a yellow tag. It has ten reasons we didnt pick your trash up. Its everything from you havent paid your bill to the container is overweight. Those yellow tags are a big deflector. Random quality checks are a reminder of whats expected. We go out and do what we call route observations on the crew to make sure drivers and helpers are doing the right thing. Pictures are a key component to the service model. No matter the issue, the photos speak for themselves. What do they say, a picture is worth a thousand words . I have a picture. Im looking at it. Its proof. Its proof of whats really there. Employees will submit pictures to the office if they see a potential problem. Clients are encouraged to send in pictures, too. If you really feel justified in your complaint and youre not willing to send me a picture, then im going to be a little skeptical. The company does make mistakes. And the team tries to resolve them quickly. When its our mistake, we go back and get it. I can text the supervisor right away and he gets on the driver and they turn around and go back. We correct our mistakes in less than a day. There are also plenty of variables in the garbage business that can affect the routes. Its week in, week out, different crews, could be a different truck. It cowl be sunny. It cowl be rainy. Trying to be as close to identical, extent, thats the toughest thing we try to achieve. The procedures in place are working, the regional provider has 32,000 customers and that number continues to climb. We know where we stand. We know what our policies are. The customer may not always agree with it but we can come to a happy medium. Complaints are at a minimum. There are no recurring issues and the staff is happy, too. Weve literally had no turnover. As texas pride expands, kevin says his service plan will remain the same. Hes proud of the business and hes confident its well situated for perfect growth. Its a great service, a great product. It will speak for itself. Be responsive. Be attentive, make the customer your priority but at the end of the day, know that customer is not always right. As much as we may try, as Small Business owners we cant always please everyone. So like texas pride disposal, how do you handle Customer Relations . Especially when the customer is wrong or unreasonable . Lets get our board of director in here to chat about this. Peter shankman is the founder of shank minds business masterminds, an Online Community of entrepreneurs around the world. Hes author of zombie loyalists. And cnbc contributor carol roth is a recovering investment banker, entrepreneur and author. So good to see you both. You too, jj. I love this piece. The favorite part was the pictures. You cannot argue with a picture. Theres no reason in todays day and age to not document everything with text, audio, video. We carry so many devices on us that can do that, it solves problems before they become bigger problems. Heres the challenge. Im looking at a business like this. I dont know how much choice you have in choosing your trash removal provider. From a customer standpoint they have more flexibility to push back on their customers. I think if you have a different type of business, you could have the picture but you could still anger the customer, because the customer is upset about something. You need to be very, very careful. If its a customer whos very important to you, either because they spend a ton of money with you or theyre a big influencer, sometimes it doesnt matter if you have the picture and theyre in the wrong. You do have to accommodate them if theres more competition in your market. For a business like that, i completely get it. But i think for other businesses, you need to be very careful about that. Its a really good point. Theres a line, no greater lover in the world than a former hater. Yep. So if they are having a problem, even if they are in the wrong, you know, saying, you know what, well let this slide, take care of it this time for you, try not to do that again, you far exceeded the bar. Thats the point. We expect businesses to argue with us and fight with us. If you go out of your way and say, ill take care of it this time. Theyll tell the world how great you are. I think letting them know that they did something wrong and taking care of it. That takes the sting out of it. Right. You did screw up but well handle it anyway. In a nice way. At the same time, too, one of the things thats powerful for a Small Business is to break up with customers who arent worth it. There are customers who take up so much time and so many resources right. And dont have that influence and pull, maybe dont spend a ton of money with you, it is completely okay if you have one or two customers that is draining your staffs time, bringing down morale, cut them loose. Say its not us, its you. You need to go away now. The other interesting point in piece, too, you dont have your customers only. You have your employees. Yes. Right . You have to listen to them. What i liked about the piece is that they do put their employees first. If you have employees that dont care or impassioned about what they do. Were talking about garbage collection. It takes a special type of person that does that. You have to treat them well. Theyre your first line of caring and empathy. If the boss is not showing that same level of empathy, it wont trickle down to the customer. It has to start from the top. It is about that culture. They are ambassadors who are interacting with the customers. Exactably. If they care and are creating the great experience, with somebody like a gash an collerb collector, if they smile and say how are you, hows your day going, thats empowering. Theyre the ambassadors for the brand, touching the customers. It makes a huge difference as well. Internally, we trust you, we hired you. Youre our team, we trust you. I said you will never get fired for trying to fix a problem. Youll get fired if you ignore it. Everybodys job, i dont care what their resume says, everybodys job is to make the customer happy. Absolute dpli. If youre working on that business and doing that in such a way this is garbage collection. If the garbage is gone, youre happy. Imagine going one step above that. And making your garbage cans smell great. Paint a smiley face on it. Thank you, guys. In new york city, loyal customers of a different kind of trash were jolted when they discovered their favorite store was moving from its longtime location. Trash and vaudeville, a temple of punk rock clothing was a fixture on new yorks east villages st. Marks place for 41 years. Like many Small Businesses facing rising rents around the nation, the store was recently forced to relocate. Like the store itself, its manager and head buyer jimmy webb is a survivor. Hes one of the chief reasons rock clothing fans flock to trash and vaudeville. After spending some time with him, we understand why. The biggest selling jackets are right now the plaids. Amazing. Really amazing. But this jacket, killing it. Current but gothic and rock and roll. Meet ray goodman and jimmy webb of new york citys punk clothing boutique trash and vaudeville. How is this doing . Good. This is nonstop, nonstop, boys and girls version. Nonstop, best fabric ever. Ray is the owner, he bought it in 1975, renamed it trash and vaudeville and has cultivated it into this ultrahip rock star loving identity. I have always been into clothing, fashion and rock n roll and it was a way to put the two together. Jimmy is the key buyer, primary sales man, and number one spokesman that makes everything its leopard with a white motorcycle jacket, its red plaid, silver star, something washed dirty, its a stud, its sex, pink and green. And its a ledger jacket. When you put it on and zip it and unzip it, its how you feel. When it comes to picking merchandise like this, he is a punk fashion genius. Want to see my favorite tattoo . I need more compassion. I need more forgiveness. I need more understanding. I need more jewelry. He knows his customers. The stars and the fans and maybe even more important than that, you might say hes his own best customer. And that gives him a huge edge as a buyer. If you tell me what the top five things are im probably not going to buy it. I want to stay ahead of the top five things. I want to add to the future, not be stuck. Trash and vaudeville is a bit unique in its merchandise mix, what we sell here, what works for a lot of people doesnt work for us. And what works for us, doesnt work for a lot of other people. Recently ray and jimmy took off from new york city to attend a weeklong fashion vendor showcase called magic. In las vegas. They hit the Convention Floor in search of new merchandise. No, no, no. We have so many of those, we dont need that. Prestuded, not for men. So rock n roll, pimp, urban, so girl, so guy, its good. This is [ bleep ] beautiful. How much is this . 300 . This is good. Is that good . This is really good. Its very jimmy. Yes, it is. Good. We tried it. You know what i mean . Its bought put but its not us. Jimmy is the lifestyle. And he can relate to a 17yearold kid or a 60yearold guy. Doesnt make a difference. Don king, sales rep for new jersey based leather company, says jimmys relationship with his customers is not typical of most buyers. And thats what makes him so good at his job. Hes the guy on the floor, the front line. A lot of buyers are sitting behind the desk and working based on numbers. So theyre not as intimate or passionate about what their customers specifically are looking for. Jimmy has been such an important part for the store because of his styling and his abilities and combination of that and personality and his street smarts. It was a match made in heaven, real. I am going to cry happy thankful tears. I just want to make people happy, make dreams come true. Thats what im known for. Thats what i do every day. Customers may be downloading your mobile app but this he actually using it . We have five smart ways to get people hooked and keep them engaged. One, develop an attractive user interface. Keep your customer by deleting your app by sticking to a sleek and simple design thats easy to navigate. Two, create a loyalty program, use reward points or free offers from partner businesses. Three, provide mobile app discounts. And take advantage of push notifications to let people know about these app exclusive incentives. Four, tap into user psychology. People like to achieve things and actively share moments of success with their friends. Incorporate features that keep this fact in mind. And five, add gamification elements. Let users set goals and track progress through your app. This will increase engagement and get them to come back for more. Major League Baseball season is under way, much to the delight of not only the fans but also Small Businesses that make a living with products and Services Related to our national pastime. At one time, you may remember, major leaguers only had one choice when it came to their bats and that was the famous Louisville Slugger. Not anymore, though. Todays elevator pitcher is trying to score with his line of wooden bats. Lets see if peter and carol want to play ball with him. My name is david chandler. I make the worlds greatest baseball bat. Nice. But dont take my word for it alone. Look to bryce harper, backtoback home run derby champion or rookie of the year chris bryant. Theyre all tell you these are by far the greatest bats ever made. One of the beautiful parts and points of it is that not only do we make this quality for Major League Players and allstar players but also little league, high school and collegiate players alike as well, the exact same quality. What i went to do is design and engineer a bat and the chandler bat ultimately looks different, feels different in the hand, it sounds different and it certainly performs different as well. Currently were seeking a Million Dollar investment for a 25 stake. The moneys will be utilized for expanding our manufacturing operations, broadening our Distribution Channel and also increasing our raw material buying power. Good job with that pitch. Congratulations on everything so far. Thank you. And carle is ready to get out there. Okay. Ive got do i have to give this back to you . Im liking this bat. Youre not seeing this one again. Here are your boards. Two numbers. The first one, one to ten, how did he do on the product and second, how did he do on the pitch . One thing i have to say is how you came right out and say this is the worlds greatest bat. Then you have to substantiate that but that not my attention. But i dont count. These guys do. This is an amazing product. You proved you have really big names using it. People in major League Baseball are obviously not using your bat because its not the best bat ever. It has to be the best bat ever or theyre not going to use it. You didnt give me enough scope about the business. Just selling that sizzle part doesnt do it for me. If youre asking for a Million Dollars and working with mlb, how big is your business . How much have you sold . One of the big things with bats, this was a big thing with Louisville Slugger that made them sell to wilson, what about the supply of the wood . Who are the issues around the business . I dont think youve got into enough of the details on the pitch. So i think your pitch could be improved even though i love that product. Can i get the bat back . I need to you are not taking that home. Im loving this bat. Peter . Nine innings in baseball, 7th inning stretch. I love the product. Feels solid in my hand. Having played as a kid makes we want to play again. The issue i have with the pitch, knowing a little bit about baseball, everything is licensing. Everything is licensing. You didnt talk about your connection to mlb, the connection to licensing. Mlb is one of those massive entities that could say you know what, eh, and youre out. I need to know the strength of that and i want to know numbers. Wheres the market . Talk to me about numbers of kids every year ente