Lessons in Service
True story! One of my major suppliers of service stopped providing service promptly at 3 PM on September 15, 2009 without notice. When I called the supplier’s technical service department I was told that anyone using their service as of 3 PM on September 15, 2009 would no longer receive service. One of the components provided by my supplier of service was no longer compatible with the system they supply. They were notified by the component supplier that morning (September 15, 2009.) The compatibility as of 3 PM on September 15 was terminated.
Besides the obvious question, “Why was there no advance warnings so that changes could be made?” There are at least two lessons to learn for our customer relationships and one moral to this story.
First lesson, teach customer service representatives what to say to YOUR public. Always teach them to accept blame. Teach them that placing of the blame should squarely fit on your company’s shoulders. Avoid passing blame to your providers. (You will see why this is important in the moral of the story.)
Second lesson, as a supplier be sure to notify your vendors when you anticipate deleting a product, supply replacement product at a reduced cost, and stand behind the changes in your market place. Do this especially in areas where you deem the necessity of change. Avoid passing problems you or your vendors create to your customer.
Now for the moral of this story. I will continue to use this supplier of service. They have a minor monopoly in our area. However, another major provider will be providing this service in our area soon. (I currently use this other major provider for another business/personal service. Both of these competitors have provided me the service that was terminated at 3 PM on September 15.) I love the service from the incoming major service provider. As soon as the new major provider comes to our area, I will switch service immediately.
Further the moral: I purchased a component to replace the compatibility issue unit with a different major component supplier’s product. I will never purchase from the original supplier due to this experience.
Finally, I spend about $1200 per year with this vendor. Without their service I am out of business. My production was hampered for nearly a day and one-half. I also had two of my vendors do “emergency” work to get me back into production. As a major player in our area, this provider provides to thousands of clients who experienced exactly what I did. I wonder how many will change their service when the new supplier arrives? It is good to have vendors you can rely on.
Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA. He works with people in business who want to attract the right prospects and generate more referrals. More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Riverside, and Orange Counties.
Gerry’s stimulating presentation Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals is ideally suited for small business owners, home-based businesses, and independent professionals who want clearer direction and want to attract more prospects, develop dynamic systems, and strengthen their companies’ accountability. Gerry does one on one consulting, conducts a range of keynote speeches from thirty minutes to full-day education workshops.
His book series, Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, are available on the website, www.integritysd.com.
Gerry has more than 20 years’ experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses. He is a networking dynamo. Those who know him will assure you that he does a great job of bringing people together—which is why he started INTEGRITY.
Involved with networking organizations since 1984, Gerry is a Distinguished Toastmaster, a member of Toastmaster International, and has chaired numerous chambers of commerce and non-profit organizations.
Are you truly committed to attracting the right prospects and generate more referrals? If so then contact INTEGRITY Networking Solutions for availability and information, call (888) 584-7073. You can contact Gerry by mail at 1509 Maxwell Lane, Vista, CA 92084. Direct dial (760) 439-4623;; e-mail to gerry@integritysd.com. For more information, go to www.integritysd.com
