Small Advantage...

I find it interesting how much bad service we'll let big companies get away with. Here's just a few good and bad examples from this week:

• Yesterday, I called my local phone company about a DSL issue. After sucking up my time running me thru a phone labyrinth, they put me in touch with PAID tech support. I hung up and tried again. I got disconnected this time. I finally found someone who helped.

* Earlier this week, Beth approached me with a $50 VISA gift card that PJ got for a birthday. The front said "good thru 8/10" but when I checked the balance, the issuing bank had already begun deducting $2.50 a month for non-use -- the card is now worth $35 (That in addition to the $4.95 it indicates that the giver paid to buy the card!) Daily calls to the issuing bank have gone unreturned.

* Calling my website hosting company this week, they told me my request was unsupported. But they helped me anyway. They're a small division of a huge company. And they care.

It seems big companies are making money on PAID tech support for and by robbing 10-year-old kids. And small companies are doing more than they need to. Sad.

In my mind, that means small and mid-size companies have a "small advantage" -- the big advantage of being small. Every customer matters.

Takeaway: In your sales and marketing, make a big deal about being small. Tell your customers why you care about their business. Make a fuss over them. People like to know you care.