And here’s the saga continued…
The Propane People
For our generator we had to buy an underground propane tank. We went with a local oil and propane company. They told us they were going to hire a landscape contractor to do the digging (he was great), and, to save a little money, I promised to be on-site to haul away the fill that wouldn’t be needed. I was going to take the day off from work so I could do this.
Unfortunately the day arrived when they were supposed to come and they never showed up. Talk about screwing up my day. I called to find out what happened and when they were going to show up. The sales rep wasn’t in so I left a message. The first of five messages I’d make during that week. It wasn’t returned — none were returned in fact. I hadn’t paid them anything so I was going to find another company. But on the day I was going to do that they showed up. Mind readers, perhaps?
I was pretty upset because I couldn’t get an ounce of cooperation — even though I was supposed to be on-site and ready to work. I was so upset that I called the salesman to give him a piece of my mind. This time I managed to get him on the line. He sounded apologetic, and then innocently asked: “Didn’t I call you? I could’ve sworn I called you back.”
The job was finally done and I was asked by the site manager to call the office to pay since I was using my credit card. I didn’t, though. I figured I’d wait a day. Communication is a two way street so I wanted them to be aware that a lack of communication is also a two-way street. Well, they didn’t like that and the next morning, first thing, before I had a chance to call them, the salesman phoned. He was quick to share his irritation with me. I smiled to myself, a bit satisfied, then innocently asked: “Oh, didn’t I call you yesterday? I could’ve sworn I called in the payment yesterday.” The salesman caught on, but he didn’t say he was sorry or anything. I was left with the impression I was just another annoying customer. Maybe I am, what with wanting good service, communication, cooperation, and all my other unreasonable desires.
Fools. My wife was looking for a new oil company. Had this one done a good job, they would’ve ended up with our contract. They didn’t and are none the wiser. The salesman’s lack of consideration cost them hundreds of dollars of our business every year: They lost our business just because they couldn’t be bothered to return a phone call or offer us a modicum of respect and cooperation. Dumb.
The Lessons Herein
There are some basic business lessons in all this that should apply to any business. Some simple advice to follow, such as:
- Return your phone calls. What? You think you’re the only one who’s busy? Make time to return calls, emails, and any other communications. Failure to do so is rude and unprofessional. The more you get, the brisker your business must be. Don’t complain — do your job instead.
- Your word is your bond. Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it. If you can’t keep promises, don’t make them. Others will expect you to live up to your word so do it. Always.
- Don’t point fingers. The customer doesn’t care if the salesman did something wrong, or the installer is lazy or incompetent, or if the manufacturer goofed. Placing the customer smack in the middle of your disorganized unprofessional company [mess] is an absolute no-no. Unify your company.
- Don’t make the client work. I didn’t mention it, but the masonry contractor asked me to go to a local hardware store to buy him a tube of caulking he needed for the job. Say what?! I’m the customer, not your gopher. Buy your own damn caulking. I’m busy as I have my own job to do and my own customers to satisfy.
- Take responsibility for your employees. If an employee is going to talk to a customer and make a promise, then your company needs to stick by it. As soon as they answer the phone they are your company and represent it as effectively as any employee or management person would in the eyes of the customer. I had an issue concerning this a few years ago with a biocontrol company. We called for a price of a specific product, the office manager gave it to us immediately, we sent over a purchase order (PO) with the price quoted, the order was shipped, then billed, but the invoiced price was nearly double what we were told and what was on the PO. We complained to the owner of the company and he told us: “Don’t listen to her, she’s just the office manager.” We were told to pay the amount on the bill (despite the fact we had ordered by a PO with the price we were willing to pay, as quoted). He didn’t care, he didn’t even mutter an apology. We paid it and he forever lost our business.
One lasting rule of business that happens to be a good rule of life: Do unto others as you’d have others do unto you. For anyone who doesn’t know it’s called “The Golden Rule” and it really makes a lot of sense. Business people are also customers. And as customers they wish to be treated fairly, honestly, and with some respect. This should not be forgotten when the tables are turned.
Remember this part and you can’t go wrong.
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David Zemens responds:
Posted: November 11th, 2007 at 8:26 pm →
I thought the only place it was hard to find contractors, or service workers, or other “for hire” employees was in Michigan! I guess it is a universal problem.
I think we have all learned the lesson of paying in full before completion. It’s never a good situation. In fact, another lesson I learned was if the contractor needs your deposit to buy materials, that means that he has no credit. Needless to say, that is not a good indicator of his work ethic or his bill paying.
It’s hard to get that reputation back. Most of us try and keep it intact so we never have to scramble to regain it. It sounds like your contractor doesn’t even care about trying to polish his reputation.
Doing Business Unto Others… - Beast-Blog.com responds:
Posted: November 12th, 2007 at 1:24 am →
[…] Inspired by a print magazine article I could relate to closely, I wrote another similar article on my company’s Bug Blog called “What Business Experience Do You Give?” In a nutshell it offers a couple of customer-business relationship experiences — with me being the customer — that went bad, why they went bad, and a little advice to prevent it happening with your business. After all, creating ill-will isn’t that good for a business’s long-term future. Moreover, it just isn’t right. (Read the aforementioned article to get the full details.) […]