A customer in Denver told me my chain cleaning method was too aggressive

He pointed out that my go-to method of soaking chains in a strong citrus degreaser for 30 minutes was wearing out the factory grease inside the rollers prematurely. I switched to a gentler, fast-acting spray degreaser and a brush, cleaning more often but with less harsh chemicals. Has anyone else had a client challenge a long-held shop practice like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameroncarr12d ago

Yeah, customers can spot things you get blind to. That Denver guy probably saved you from ruining a few more chains down the line. Good on you for actually listening.

mark72311d ago

Read a case study about a bike shop in Portland. They had a weird clicking noise on all their rental bikes. Mechanics couldn't find it. A customer who was a musician came in. He said it sounded like a specific cable tension issue from his guitar tech days. They checked, and he was totally right. Fresh eyes, or ears in that case, see what you miss after staring at the same problem for weeks. It's smart business to listen, even when the feedback seems odd at first. That shop fixed the whole fleet because one person had a different background.