Inversely, a recent trip to a local Taco Bell almost ended on an episode of Cops because young lady behind counter grew angry when I politely pointed out that my nachos were stale and asked for a fresh bag (pet peeve #132: stale nachos).

Miss Mary Sunshine snatched offending nachos from my hand and slam dunked them in a trash can, then tossed a replacement bag (which were also stale) on counter in front of me. She then gave me a look that clearly said that if I had any further complaints she'd be happy to escort me outside to discuss them in detail. I like nachos, but not so much that I would risk getting my behind kicked by a disgruntled teenage girl wearing a sideways Taco Bell cap. Not-so-excellent customer service after sale.

Now, which restaurant do you think I will go to next time I feel need to feed my fast food monkey? And which restaurant do you think I enthusiastically recommend to my friends? The one that understands importance of good customer service before and after sale, of course.

The worst customer service experience I've ever had involved purchase of a vehicle at a local used car lot. I purchased used Ford Expedition on a Friday evening and when problems arose with vehicle over weekend, I went back to dealership on Monday morning to speak with sales manager.

To say least, sales manager (who acted like my best friend on Friday) was not thrilled to see me on Monday. To make a very long story short, when I pointed out that he wasn't being very helpful after sale he came around desk yelling at top of his lungs and waving his hands in my face.

By time receptionist managed to calm him down, sales manager had gone so far as to call me "a retarded idiot" (which may be considered redundant) and had instructed me to do something with vehicle that I believe is anatomically impossible.

It was an Expedition, I'm a little guy. Use your imagination.

Though dealership owner later apologized and offered to take care of any problem I had, damage to his business had already been done. The bad buzz machine started second I left his lot.

Do you think I told everyone I met about my experience with that dealership? You bet your stale nachos I did. Do you think I will ever buy another car from that dealership? Not on your life. Do you think anyone I've told about experience will buy a car from that dealership? Probably not. Do you think owner and sales manager learned anything from experience? We can only hope.

In end, what is value of great customer service before and after sale? Priceless, my friend.

Simply priceless.

Now, can somebody please get me some fresh nachos…

Do you have a customer service horror story? I'd love to hear it. Email me at address below.

Here's to your success.

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.

Believe me, I know.

The final contributing factor to death of sixty-three percent of businesses who died from bad management was that owners had no relevant or applicable business experience.

Bad financial planning was second reason sited by survey as to why most businesses fail. In business, it's always about money. According to U.S. Bank study, eighty-two percent of business failures studied reported poor cash flow management as a contributing factor to death of business.

Seventy-nine percent of businesses were inadequately funded, and seventy-seven percent miscalculated cost of doing business. In other words, they failed to take into account all of costs involved when setting price for their products.

Let's move on to my favorite subject: bad marketing. You've heard me preach this sermon before. You can have greatest product in world, but if your marketing efforts are inadequate or ineffective you will end up with a warehouse full of greatest product that no one in world has ever heard of.

The study showed that bad marketing was a contributing factor in death of sixty-four percent of businesses surveyed. Many of these misguided entrepreneurs either minimized importance of marketing and promotion or ignored it totally.

A vital part of marketing is knowing who your competition is and always knowing what they are up to. The entrepreneur who ignores his competition is a fool (gee, was that too harsh?) and is always destined to fail, as proven by fifty-five percent of dead businesses in survey who either didn't even know who their competition was or simply chose to ignore competition altogether.

Here's a nice hole in sand for you, sir.

Please insert your head…

Another mistake made by forty-seven percent of deceased businesses was that they relied on just one or two customers for bulk of revenues. This is a common mistake made by many business owners who devote all their energy to one huge client. What they don't seem to understand is that if that one customer goes away, so does most of their revenue.

When performing your business autopsy you might identify other contributing factors that were beyond your control, such as a down economy, lack of qualified employees, new government regulations that negatively affect way you must do business, failure of a strategic partner, etc..

There will always be things you can't control. The key to business success is to keep control of those things you can and do everything you can to prepare for those things you can't.

Next time we'll discuss a few things you should and should not do to help ensure your business success.

Here's to your success.

Tim Knox tim@dropshipwholesale.net For information on starting your own online or eBay business, visit http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Small Business Q&A is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim serves as the president and CEO of three successful technology companies and is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay entrepreneurs.