Whenever two or more resale shop owners or managers get together, the stories of dealing with customer complaints, misunderstandings, or outright fraud are deep and impassioned. I observed this lately, and you should have seen the body language!

The newer shopkeepers sat on the edge of their chairs, shoulders hunched and eyes ablaze.

The time-tested shop owners and managers? They were relaxed and had smiles hovering over their faces. What did they know that the newer folks didn’t?

That it’s all a part of shopkeeping life. Nothing to stress over. Especially the thought, which drives newbies crazy, that they might have to give up some money, whether it’s a refund, an adjustment to a consignor’s portion of a sale, or even a gift card to a client who feels she’s been wronged.

I try, in these situations, to advise the belabored shopkeeper to concentrate on righting the wrong, learning from the confrontation… and to consider

any expense to calm an upset customer, a cost of business

that goes into your advertising budget. It’s money spent, actually, on advertising your business, but even better, it’s money spent

Cultivating future revenue.

Solving a relatively small problem now… is cultivating future revenue for your business. It’s an investment in your business future. Let your business grow. Solve the problem. Sure, it might cost you money.

But how much money will it cost if you ignore the problem?