Entrepreneurs inevitably deal with vendors who promise extras with their product sales, ship those products, then conveniently forget their promises. It could be a slightly deeper discount, free add-ons, or other perks. Regardless of the enticement, the extra never arrives, and sooner or later the customer catches on to the sleight-of-hand sales tactic. The problem is the freebies are never that valuable but still desirable. What’s more, the products are perfect and priced right. However, over time, those empty promises become too much to ignore.

Sometimes, the “solution” can easily be far worse than the problem. We’ve all heard this sentiment in different forms. It’s a crazy but very real phenomenon, and it goes against intuition. After all, what could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot could and probably will go wrong. That’s because there’s just no way to plan for every plausible (and implausible) contingency. Still, a circumstance we know we should handle a certain way deep in our gut is too unbearable to let play out. So, we go against our instinct, fearing it will backfire, and then watch in horror as it blows right up in our face.

Every small business owner dreams of success. Smart entrepreneurs know the best way to achieve their goal is through excellent customer service, delivering the best products and services with a positive attitude. But somewhere along the way, the hustle and bustle become a daily reality, and suddenly the personal touch and familiar feeling that comes with it are gone. And when customers don’t feel the same connection, they begin to feel like just another number, which spells nothing but T-R-O-U-B-L-E with a capital “T.”