Meeting promises
Saturday, June 6th, 2009Do what you say you’ll do. Whatever your business, there’s a good starting point for success. I’ve had two stark lessons in this as a retail customer recently.
In both cases, the businesses are large, respected Downtown establishments I want to support and have been loyal to for many years. In both cases, their failure to meet promises means they’ll lose my business.
What an excellent parallel for those of us in the A/E/C/RE world. Do your customers care about your basic integrity and follow-through as much as your skills?
The first was a new bed. The sales guy said eight weeks. With no word at 10 weeks, the rep said 12. With no word at 14 weeks, the rep said “it’s almost in the warehouse.” With no word at 18 weeks, it was “in the warehouse” but couldn’t be delivered the following weekend. Guessing it wasn’t really “in the warehouse,” I cancelled. Three weeks later they called and asked why I wasn’t home to take delivery, as if this had been scheduled. At that point, I still wanted the bed and could have taken delivery that very day. But after 22 weeks (incompetence? honest error? lies? poorly-managed supply chain? all of the above? who cares), I didn’t act in my own interest. Instead I punished the store by reiterating my cancellation.
The second was my longtime barber. He’s always done a good job, with excellent service. But four straight times the wait was 20-30 minutes after the appointment. On the last occasion I didn’t say anything, but apparently the ice was obvious, because afterward the cashier cut the price in half. It’s admirable that he acknowledged the error. But the gesture was way too little and too late. My decision not to go back was made in the waiting room. More importantly, once the impression exists that someone isn’t reliable, that impression sticks.
At your business, you might assume loyal customers will give you the benefit of the doubt when you screw up. That’s probably true at first in many cases, due to the strength of your relationships, the customers’ inertia, and their human aversion to starting an argument. But eventually it works against you. A loyal customer expects service in return, and can take it personally and deeply when you don’t live up.
Much of it is about being honest when setting expectations. For the barber it might mean more time between appointments. For the bed seller, a realistic due date would have been a start, and a correction would have helped if a shipping error had been made.
In the A/E/C/RE world, that means living up to what you’re selling. Are you?
