This is SO Unbelievably Stupid!

Transcript:

Hi! It’s Sherri Wilson again! And this week I’m going to talk about something that just absolutely ticks me off. If you can hear the irritation in my voice, it’s because it’s there. One reason I’m irritated is this pet peeve of mine is so unnecessary and, quite frankly, stupid. Before I dive in, I want to say that I have been guilty of this in my early years as an entrepreneur. So no judgment even though I sound quite judge-y. But this must stop. Okay, here is the pet peeve—not getting back with customers in spite of it being customer service 101!

Let me give you two scenarios that I’ve recently encountered.

Scenario 1

The first is with one of my clients. Now this client is a D personality like most business owners are so keep that in mind. A D hates being ignored, and being ignored is a sign of disrespect, a huge trigger for a D. No one likes lack of communication from a business, but it’s especially frustrating for certain personalities.

My client had hired a gentlemen for a particular project and then COVID hit. The project was put on hold due to shut downs, which was fine. He understood. He paid for the work in advance because he’s a businessman and wants to take care of fellow business owners. Over the course of several months, my client had sent friendly texts and phone calls to keep in touch. No text response back. No phone calls back. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada.

That was a tad irritating but nothing to be concerned with yet. Then after things starting opening back up, my client called to touch base. Nothing. Finally, the business owner walks into his business, and they catch up. My client asks him if he could do a separate small project for him. Of course! Yeah, no problem. Ok!

Almost a week later, he texts him to see how it’s going and when he expects to be done. Nothing. No phone call. No text response. Nothing. Now, he’s mad. It’s one thing to ignore him during COVID and the shut down. But to say he can do a new project and not return his phone calls or texts is CLEARLY sending a message that his business and him as a person are not important to this man.

I contacted this man on behalf of my client, and I’ll never forget what he said at the end of a somewhat tense conversation about his lack of communication, “I’ll call him in the near future.” What?! OMG! The reason I’m calling you is because of your lack of communication, and you lack such emotional intelligence to not understand how that right there would send someone over the edge?

Since that time, they have talked. I’m not sure how things stand at the moment.

Scenario 2

This one involves me. I bought my first new car almost five years ago at the age of 41. I love my little car. I’ve taken very good care of it. And it was time for my usual servicing plus I needed my first set of new tires. I always go to the dealership where I bought it because of their exceptional customer service even though I have to travel 90 miles. It’s worth it.

I hop in the car Tuesday and travel to the dealership enjoying some good true crime podcasts on the way. I happily wait in the waiting room, and get some work done. For my oil change, multipoint inspection, new windshield wipers, and tires, I only had to wait two hours, which I thought was perfect. I then happily drive home listening to even more true crime.

My husband comes home from work, and I run out there to show him my new tires. I know. They’re just tires, but I was proud. He took a look and said, “Hey, it looks like they scratched your wheels.” What?! I look and saw that every single wheel was ruined. The tire machine scratched them all and took chunks of the coating out. On top of that, the stuff they use to put the tire on was all over my wheels. They didn’t even clean it off, which was unusual. My car always comes back clean or cleaner.

Your first response might be, “Why didn’t you check your wheels before you drove back home?” Good question! I didn’t check them closely because they’ve ALWAYS taken such good care of me that it didn’t even occur to me that they would let my car leave like that. I trusted them, which is not easy for a D personality like me. Yep, I’m a D, too. But it gets worse.

I call them the next day and explain what’s happening. I was asked if I could come in. No, I’d prefer to send pictures since I live 90 miles away. But if you’re going to make me come in, I guess I’ll have to. Oh no, you don’t need to do that. Pictures will work. I’ll send an email over to the service manager, and we’ll get you fixed up. Ok!

Wait the rest of the day. Nothing. Call again the next morning. This time, I’m cc’d in an email to all of the managers, and I fully expected someone to call me back. Between those two calls, I did get a text (probably automated) from one of the managers asking me about my recent experience (eye roll), and when I responded explaining what happened, no response. Zip. Zero. Nada. I waited another 24 hours and still received no communication. So I sent pictures to all of the managers of my wheels. Nothing. No freaking response.

I then let them know that if someone didn’t take care of this, I was prepared to leave a Google review and hire a lawyer. I’m not prone to suing, but this was ridiculous. So, I wake up Friday ready to call the owner of the dealership if necessary and let him have it. I then get a text from the manager saying he’d call in a bit. Ok! Good! Finally!

I get a phone call, and it’s a PRE-RECORDED MESSAGE from him asking if I had concerns!!! Are you kidding me?! Now, I understand it’s probably automated, but it threw me over the edge. I went from a low burn to boiling in seconds. I texted him about how stupid that was, that my patience was wearing thin, and I wanted a call…TODAY. A few minutes after, I finally got a call from him. He apologized and explained that they are getting it arranged to fix the issue. He said they would even come get my car, fix it, and bring it back. All I know is they better not show up with the same wheels. They better either look new or be new!

We’ll See

This saga is obviously still going on, but what I want to point out is that if they had simply called even if it was to give me no news but let me know they were working on it, I would have been fine. It was the ignoring me that pissed me off. It’s not necessary. So I want you to remember this statement:

No news is NOT good news!

At least, not in these situations. If you’re waiting for a jury’s verdict, no news might be good. If you’re waiting for test results, no news might be good. But when you have situations like these, a lack of communication is sending a very clear message that you just don’t care. It can send a worse message that you’re not going to fix it. Even if you don’t know any more than the last time, a quick text, phone call, or email to let them know that they’re not forgotten and you’re working on it is perfectly fine.

And don’t give me this crap that you’re too busy. We’re ALL busy. How many seconds does it take to shoot a quick email or text? Do it while you’re using the restroom if you have to. But don’t leave your customers hanging, especially if a mistake has been made.

Secret Jackpot

Here’s a secret that you need to know—if you solve your client’s problem well even if it was your fault, you will create more loyalty in that customer than all your other customers that have never had a bad experience with you. Fixing mistakes creates an intense loyalty and a fan for life. It’s a hidden jackpot that many business owners don’t know exists.