I'll answer that in a minute.
First, today's encounter. I am an avid bike rider. My bike shop, Rock n' Road Cycle, is located here in Grand Haven, Michigan. This past weekend my bike began making grinding sounds. Fearing the worst I took it to my mechanic, Phil, at Rock n' Road. He took one look and determined my two year old bike needed a total rehab from a complete tune-up and the replacement of several key parts. To make matters worse, it would cost nearly two hundred dollars and would take the entire week to repair. This is something I expected since I ride my mountain bike around a hundred miles a week, mostly on dirt roads, and takes a quite a beating. Still, I wished I could have it back sooner.
Today, on the day I expected the bike back, Phil called to say the bottom bracket connected to the pedal mechanism unexpectedly needed to be replaced. And, he would have to order the part and it wouldn't arrive for nearly a week. He assured me, however, that I could ride the bike this coming weekend though I'd have to put up with a terrible grinding sound.
Late this afternoon I headed to the bike shop expecting to pick up a bike that was not quite right. To top things off, when I arrived at the bike shop, Phil was busy with another customer. He asked if I could wait. I replied rather caustically that I was getting used to waiting.
When Phil finally got to me he had a smile on his face. He told me he knew from my voice earlier in the day, that I was disappointed and decided to take one more look at my bike before I arrived. As a result he had found what had caused the noise and fixed it. My bike was now one hundred percent. He also noted on my receipt if the part in the bottom bracket gave me a problem he would repair it for free.
I left the bike shop giddy with excitement looking forward to tomorrow's ride.
Had I purchased my bike from a catalog or large chain store I probably would not have received the same kind of service.
Now, let me attempt to connect the dots between my bike story and book publishing.
Great books done right will provide readers with a satisfying experience. In the world of book publishing, where more and more books are self published, it becomes the job of the author to see to it that the reader (customer) is provided with an exceptional product (book). This means the book has to be well written, expertly edited, properly proofed, designed professionally, superbly printed, priced right and delivered on time.
Beyond the quality of the book it is also important to identify exactly who the target audience is and then efficiently engage that audience through effective marketing.
Sadly, today many authors are publishing through large self publishing houses that will pretty much release any book regardless of quality. Their junk in, junk out mentality with little emphasis on quality can result in a bad experience for both the author and reader.
Like Phil at Rock n' Road Cycle, it is important to go that extra mile to assure maximum satisfaction.
Take away thoughts:
- Are you providing great customer service?
- Do you give proper attention to quality in all aspects of the publication process?
- Have you identified your target audience and developed a realistic marketing plan?
