Let’s Talk More About Customer Service

A quick step back… on December 14, I wrote a blog about customer service relating to my laptop, where the servicing company really screwed up. They lost my computer for ten days, were constantly lying to me, and then they finally shipped it to me. When I went to use it, I found out it was someone else’s computer, and waited another 12 days for them to find mine and send it to me. Phew! That’s where we left off.

Now the fun continued. I could not get the computer to work. Another 18 phone calls and still nothing. I finally bought a new laptop, certainly another brand. I’m waiting for the original company to do something for me, but I am not expecting anything. I spent about 41 hours trying to reconcile this issue. I should have bought the new computer on the first day. I would have been better off.

I am not going to say the manufacturer’s name here. This is not the right place. But you can be darn sure I am telling everyone I know, in every way I can, about this laughable and sad story. I promise that your customers will do the same.

Don’t let this happen to you. It is better to solve the issue, even at some expense, than to back pedal and blame every one else in the supply chain. Here’s a tip: spread your purchasing dollar around. Give 80 percent of your purchases to your main supplier and 20 percent to a secondary supplier so you can can get something to help your customer. Be friendly with a competitor or two so they can help you out in a pinch, and of course, you do the same. Don’t swear or curse at your vendor’s customer service folks. When someone would do this to my team, I would get on the phone, tell them they owe our person a dozen roses and an apology. I also told them their account was closed until this happened.  

Sure, I lost a few customers, but I had the best customer service team in the industry; they knew I had their back, and they bent over backwards to help all of our other customers all day long.  

Keep your trucks in tip-top condition. You may have the right glass, but if you cannot deliver to your customer, you’re sunk. When you are doing work at someone’s home, and they have to take a day off to be there, and then you call that morning with your sad story, your name is MUD. Always check your goods when they come in; don’t wait until the installation to do this.

This will probably be my last blog. I went to the store today and bought the winning ticket in the $1.4 Billion Powerball. If you read my blog next week, neither one of us won. Oh well.