At the risk of coming across as an old curmudgeon, I have a nagging question: What in the world has happened to common courtesy? Am I the only one who has gotten my fill of rude and insensitive behavior when attempting to give my hard earned money to a retailer or service provider? I hardly think so.
As an example, I recently worked on a series of videos for the WFCA’s website. I contracted with a well established firm to do the work. This is a significant company with over 200 employees locally. From the street they appeared to be very professional. Their images were all consistent. All of the staff was dressed in appropriate logo wear. Their vehicles were all professionally marked. Their grounds were all professionally tended. Their equipment was up to standards. They were not inexpensive, but, we were not looking for a cheap result. My first impressions were all positive. This company had obviously done their homework. I was happy that I had engaged them. Full speed ahead!
Then they began to interact with me. By e-mail I was told that I would have to “wait a couple of days since they were busy working on an important job”. Do you like being told to wait? Neither do I. Wait is a very negative word. Do you like to feel as if another’s project is more important than yours? I don’t. Great service providers have mastered the ability to make you feel like there is only one important customer at this moment – you! Though the end result would have been the same, I would have had a totally different reaction to “while we are busy, your project is very important to us. We will give it our full attention and best efforts. I intend to have a first draft to you within 48 hours. I appreciate your patience.” Do it the wrong way and you come off as an insensitive jerk. Perform correctly and you can save the benefit of the doubt.
I then attempted to reach the videographer by phone to simply ask a question. The recording that I received stated, “You know the drill. Leave a message”. That’s it. No hello, no sorry that I am out and apparently very little concern. He may have well have said “I’m busy – don’t bother me!” Do you think that my tone with him when he did return my call may have been different? I can assure you that it will was. And, I am sure that he blamed me for being terse with him. Do you ever notice that bad service providers always think there is something wrong with their customer? Never fails!
My question is: when was the last time that you examined how both you and your staff are communicating with your customers? I know that you know what you want them to say, but do you know for a fact that they are doing so? And if so, in what manner? Has this subject ever been addressed in your training sessions? Nothing could be more important to your businesses perception. While you make take pride in your ability to physically perform a beautiful installation, lacking good communication skills when conversing with customers may be robbing you of the ability to be perceived as a true professional. Training to improve in this important skill is neither costly nor time consuming. Don’t sell yourself short!
Product alone all tends to have a certain sameness about it. People, however can stand apart in many ways. Many retailers, and service providers alike, are spending too much effort on attracting the external customer while not tending to their internal ones. Then, when results are not as hoped for, they’ll blame everyone and everything but themselves.
They say that in business the opposite of love is not hate, but rather indifference. When you love a business you will return again and again. But when you are disappointed, you will simply go away. Common acts of courtesy when communicating can pay huge dividends. Do everything that you can to ensure that when your customers rant and rave about you and your firm that they too share your positive tone!
Tom Jennings
