A Brutally Honest Disclaimer
Here is a brutally honest disclaimer you likely won’t hear from a customer oriented business: “The customer is not always right” and “There is no such thing as a 100% satisfaction guarantee.”
You might be thinking that if I’m trying to establish a business based on attracting new customers, I kind of suck at this. While most businesses, especially in the service industry, attempt to operate by the principal that the customer is always right and they will guarantee complete satisfaction, the reality is, some people choose not to be happy no matter how perfect circumstances are, and giving someone a full refund doesn’t guarantee their complete satisfaction, it just means they couldn’t be satisfied – so they get their money back, or a discount, or whatever the company feels will help prevent a nasty review on social media.
But why make such a bold disclaimer? Because it demonstrates to the customer that you respect them enough to be straight forward with them, and it helps keep realistic expectations; especially for a business based on outdoor recreation.
Weather in Colorado can be unpredictable, especially in the higher elevations. It could be hot, dry and dusty; or it could be cold, wet, and muddy. Riding ATVs and dirt bikes is fun, but it’s risky and can lead to some serious injuries. No matter how fancy the camper, it will never replace a five star resort for comfort and convenience. In certain locations and at certain times of the year, the mosquitoes and gnats can be unbearable, and some nights it doesn’t matter where you sit, the camp fire smoke is blowing in your face!
Of course I want my customers to be happy and have a great time in the outdoors, and of course I will do anything that I can within reason to ensure they have a great time. That said, I can’t control the weather or the climate, how their dirt bike will react on loose gravel, or how loud the group of campers down the way choose to be. So if your first instinct is to complain or find someone to blame when things don’t go as planned or problems arise, then perhaps booking a camping trip with RockyTrax is not the best choice.
On the other hand, maybe it’s the perfect thing to do. In our modern society of instant gratification and convenience on top of more convenience, it’s tempting for us to expect everything to go our way and if not, someone will be there to fix it right away. Remember when we used to be patient with dial up internet? Now if we’re not instantly accessing and downloading what we want with blazing speed we get frustrated. Even angry!
Being in nature and the outdoors might be the dose of reality we need. Why? Because nature doesn’t care if we are not getting what we want. It doesn’t care if we are comfortable; hot; cold; or having a good time. It just does what it was created to do…exist and reflect the glory of the Creator. It’s up to us to decide if we will enjoy ourselves out in nature – usually easy to do when it’s blue skies and perfect sunny days; much harder when circumstances are less comfortable. But for those who learn to embrace the good with the bad and recognize that sometimes things will be bad – and it’s nobody’s fault or responsibility to fix it – for those folks, joy and contentment are possible. So perhaps a little smoke in the eyes is exactly what we need.
Blessings,
Andy
RockyTrax