EXCELLENCE
I’ve been noticing a trend lately. It’s very aggravating but I suspect it isn’t going to get better. Have you noticed it?
It is a lack of follow-through and excellent business practices.
How is this a topic for joy, you ask? Patience, my friend.
This is what I’m talking about – I called my satellite dish company to report a problem and set up an appointment for a service call. I was told to be available on a certain day between the hours of 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. So at 5:00 p.m. that day, I called the company again to find out what happened to the service tech.
They had a record that I requested the call. They had the record of the date and time of the service appointment request. BUT, the guy I talked to forgot to fill out a work order therefore, I was not in the system so I had no service call appointment. UGH. Mind you, he managed to follow-through on the order for the protection plan and charged my account for it. That mad me so angry – that he charged my account for a protection plan I allowed him to talk me into that when I discovered there was no service call appointment, I demanded they cancel that protection plan. They did but I’m still disgruntled because it will now be THREE weeks before I can get my satellite serviced.
That’s as bad as ordering from a drive-thru at a fast food place now days. It is getting to the point that you have to pull over and check everything in your bag to ensure your order is there before you drive all the way home and find someone’s hamburger missing. Then when you call them on it, they act as if you are trying to steal a hamburger from them. I can’t tell you how many fast-food places have lost my business over a $2 hamburger. Why on earth should I pay someone to mistreat me?
What on earth happened to the “the customer is always right” attitude? I’m well aware there are customers who are absolutely impossible to please but I heard a statement one time that businesses should heed. For every unhappy customer, you can lose at least seven customers. How? Through word-of-mouth when the unhappy customer tells family and friends. When it comes time to shop, they will remember the unhappy customer and shop elsewhere.
Then you have the service industry like accountants, bookkeepers, tax accountants and the like. Do you have any idea what it is like to discover your tax accountant either failed to file your taxes or filed them incorrectly? Or to find that one simple form was not filled out that is vital for your business - because they were “too busy” or neglected to follow-through on something they started? How about people who tell you that you have a business appointment only to discover they lied? How can you work with people who lie to you? How can you work with people who are too busy to follow-though? How stupid is that? You can’t. Never pay or continue to pay someone who neglects to follow-through and make sure you don’t do that yourself!
My least favorite thing is to place an order online and receiving an email that states, “Sorry we will not be able to fulfill your order; that product is out of stock.” If it was out of stock, why the heck didn’t they say so online instead of telling me they had the product available? This is extremely frustrating when dealing with a time constraint like someone’s birthday. You think you have the gift ordered only to be told it isn’t available. UGH! I stop shopping with online stores that this happens frequently with.
So where is the joy in this ramble? The places that OVER-DELIVER. Places of business that are so amazingly thorough and customer-oriented, you go back to shop with them over and over. I placed an order on a Friday at www.cosmeticscop.com. I received my order on Monday. Yes, you read that correctly – even including a weekend and coming from WA, I ordered on a Friday and received the order on the very next Monday. The Republic of Tea www.republicoftea.com) is like that. Swift and accurate. My cologne store is the same (www.scentiments.com). They are not only the least expensive online cologne store around, they state very clearly on the website when something is out-of-stock and offer to let you know the minute it is back in-stock. And they are fast and accurate, too.
I predict that those who over-deliver and remain customer-oriented will be the only ones left operating in the very near future. What a great opportunity for people in business with honor, integrity and excellence! As consumers, it is time to realize that we don’t have to be treated with disrespect. Begin to seek out and support those places of business that take care of you. Talk that business up. Let others know you have had a very satisfactory relationship with this place of business.
JOY is discovering those special places that DO over-deliver, that do follow-through, that do care that you receive what you asked for. Nothing makes you feel better than getting a great deal from someone who is happy to give you that great deal!
Let me know the companies you’ve done business with that over-deliver! Spread the word!
