I’ve just had one of the most infuriating experiences I’ve had for a while, highlighting perfectly the problems many large corporations have delivering consistently good service. The net result is opportunities for medium-sized businesses like yours and mine.

My 18-month-old Mercedes needed its first service. Naturally, I tried to take it back to the dealer where I’d bought it and asked my PA to book it in for the first available slot with a courtesy car. This proved harder than expected – she made lots of calls, without getting called back; eventually she learnt I would need to wait six weeks if I wanted the courtesy car, but they could help arrange car rental for me if I preferred.

Being the fairly belligerent person I am (typical entrepreneur?) I asked her to try some other Mercedes dealers. Amazingly, all the alternatives we tried gave the same shoddy performance. When I dropped the car off I found a group of staff hanging around the reception desk, chatting, while several customers were left unattended. I was even told that “the meet and greet person will deal with you shortly”, only to discover later she was one of the idle chatters. When I was dealt with, it was discourteous, unfriendly, and a mile from how I would expect to be treated.

Things went from bad to worse when I went to pick up the car one Saturday morning. None of the staff there had the slightest interest in helping me, and when I approached one he looked up in silence with one of those “what the hell do you want?” glares. He did eventually help, and produced an invoice with several code numbers on it. On enquiring what they meant he said he didn’t know, and didn’t have access to the files that would tell him. Nor did he have the quote I’d requested for fixing some scratches. I still don’t know whether I’ve paid the correct sum.

Oh, and for the record, my invoice was handed to me in a very nice folder with the headline: “Passionate about Service” and the sentence: “Providing after-sales service that exceeds your expectations is our aim.” Hey guys – actions speak louder than words.

BUSINESS LESSONS

So what’s my point? Some very basic business lessons shout from this – establish appropriate service levels for your business and deliver them, relentlessly. Fail to do so, and you risk losing customers – and it’s hard work trying to regain their trust once you’ve blown it. I’ve been really impressed by the car, but had far better service from BMW dealerships, and will think twice before buying another Mercedes now.

I clearly don’t know why the experience was so bad. But I suspect it’s not coincidental it happened at Mercedes dealers just a short while after these previously independent businesses were bought by the car company. My guess is senior Mercedes execs would be shocked by my story. However, they need to find out what customers’ experience is really like, today and every day, and ensure staff throughout the organisation really deliver the service the ads promise.

At smaller companies, staff can see their role in the whole business more clearly. Better smaller firms will also make sure their staff feel appreciated – and that will show in the quality of their output. When I sold my last company, we had about 50 people; we sold to a company with about 1,000 staff, but they were then bought themselves within a year by a company employing over 100,000. So within 18 months, I went from being able to influence company value entirely, to not at all. Within another two years, almost all of the good people had left.

For now, I will probably need to continue to have my car serviced at an official dealer. But I bet, that unless the service changes, there will be some high quality, independent Mercedes specialist service centres opening up to offer what all Mercedes customers want. As entrepreneurs, large companies’ weaknesses spell great opportunities.

David Lester, founder of Crimson Publishing, has established or run half-a-dozen businesses, as well as advising others.