I was away last week doing a bit of a road trip with Service Dealer's owner Duncan Murray-Clarke around the north of the UK (thanks to Chris Biddle for holding the fort here by the way).

We took the opportunity to get out and about, visiting a major manufacturer, attending a trade association event and importantly, calling in on a variety of dealerships. Always an incredibly valuable activity, you can't beat getting out there and chatting to people face to face.

I'm not telling dealers anything they don't know here, but interpersonal relationships are vital in this industry. It's how you make sales and how you get customers returning to your store again and again. In our travels last week we met some wonderful people, who are doing marvellous things in their dealerships - building relationships in their local communities to engender customer loyalty.

One dealer summed it up for us when he said he just wants to treat his customers the way he'd like to be treated himself. "If my customers go away happy," he said, "then I’m happy. They’ll leave here and tell someone else what a great experience they had."

Which is why when you hear tale of someone doing it so wrong, it stands out like a sore thumb.

Naming no names, we heard of one retailer whose customer service was so bad, a dealer up the road was thinking of buying them a bottle of something for Christmas to thank him for all the customers which were sent their way due to this guy's rudeness!

It beggers belief that an independent business can act like this - especially in this climate where retention of customers is so vital for small firms. But it was a fact, customers were walking out of this store, vowing never to return - simply because of how badly they had been treated.

You can hold franchises for all the best equipment and have the swankiest showroom, but if you have an aggressive, rude, disinterested or surly attitude, there is simply no need for a customer to deal with you. There is always another option relatively nearby.

Of course you are going to come up against, let's call them difficult customers from time to time. But there are well worn methods for dealing with these types to diffuse the situation. Sales experts will tell you to never argue; to listen and let the customer vent; to show the customer you care; and to look for solutions which can rectify the perceived problem.

All good dealers worth their salt know this. What you don't do is act offhand and uncaring as soon as someone walks through your doors - which is precisely what happened to Duncan and I when curiosity got the better of us!

Yes, we couldn't resist seeing for ourselves if what we'd heard was true, so we took the opportunity to pop into this particular business. It was like something out of a comedy sketch how unwelcome we were made to feel. The monosyllabic grunts and complete lack of interest in engaging in with us had us on our heels within a minute. It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

Thankfully, businesses like this are almost unheard of in this sector. Those that do choose to act like that, well, the dealers nearby will be benefiting from an exodus of their customers. Such an unprofessional manner, will inevitably cause a small business to be unsustainable for any length of time. 

Returning to one of the many great guys we visited last week, he hit the nail on the head when he said, "Every customer we get returning to the store, well that's another pound in our pocket."

Service Dealer's Duncan Murray-Clarke and Steve Gibbs on their northern road trip last week