I need to make some changes to my website and have wanted to for about a year. I won’t go into the reasons for my inaction because that is not the point of this post. Right now, there are three emails from three different web developers, all known to me, in my inbox. One arrived just this afternoon. One has been there for quite awhile. Since I generally keep my inbox pretty much empty, the presence of these three is evidence of desire, need, and indecision. This decision is obviously not a top priority right now, but the inbox is proof that I don’t want to put it off completely. So there they sit. Meanwhile, three developers are missing a great opportunity. A simple phone call instead of an email would give any one of them the opportunity to hear, “Actually, I would like to talk about my website.” But they emailed instead of calling. So there they sit. Pick up the phone! When you write an email you are only tilting at windmills. Your written words are all guesses and you learn nothing. It takes just a few words on the phone to figure out where things stand. Why would you want to do it any other way?
I got a call today from Comcast, or at least that is what the “800 Service” caller said following the post-hello pause indicative of an unwanted call. Any doubt was confirmed when my name-mangling meter hit an all-time high and shattered. The caller proceeded to mumble something about Xfinity bundles and home security. With the strikes-against mounting, I was thinking that it would take a miracle to turn this call around. A tiny hint of WIIFM was way overdue and had to be coming. That’s when he asked the stupid question instead. “Do you have a home security system?” “Why, no! Would you like to know when we will be gone next too? Perhaps it would be easier for you, and easier on my light carpets, if I just gave you my bank account information.” If your goal is to catapult yourself from interruption to scammer, I can’t think of a better question to ask than “Do you have a home security system?” So yes, there are stupid questions and if you ask them, you will kill the sale. An 800 Service caller could be anyone. The person you are calling doesn’t know you and has little reason to believe anything you say. You simply can’t ask prying questions. You can create interest and provide value. If you make an offer, the benefit must exceed the risk, including the risk of dealing with an unknown. Put yourself in the recipient’s shoes. Would you be comfortable? More important still, don’t use the same people Comcast did to train your sales team! Comcast provided this caller with poor advice, poor training, or both. Oh, and don’t call late at night, early in the morning, during meals, when I am working, or on the weekend!
Lovely decor, prime table, and friendly greetings as we entered. So far so good. The food was terrific and also scored top marks. The service, however, left a sour taste that I won’t forget anytime soon. What is sad is that these guys probably made a conscious decision to provide the absolute best service to go with their great food and beautiful restaurant. And the hovering eagle-eyed maitre d’ undoubtedly believed he was doing exactly that. Nonetheless, I couldn’t have been more annoyed. Why? Because their notion of perfect was totally misaligned with what most diners would call perfect. These guys were totally wrapped up in themselves at the expense of our experience. For example:
My hotels in Times Square and Philadelphia this past week were equally hypocritical or clueless, I’m not sure which. Both displayed similar little, green trimmed cards informing me in elegant script that the management embraces conservation and wishes to support my efforts to conserve, should I choose to do so. Towels on the floor will be replaced; hanging towels will be left to be used once again. This little card was hanging on the only hook. There were no towel racks. Conservation wasn’t an option. Is this stupidity or hypocrisy? Why print and display cards that make you look foolish? Those who equate luxury with throwing towels on the floor are unlikely to be impressed with the little cards. Those who are eager to conserve will only be extra irritated. This is a classic example of jumping on a marketing bandwagon instead of developing a trustworthy brand that signifies reliable value. If you want to appeal to people who value green practices, find real ways to be green. Pretending to be green while filling the world with wet towels and little plastic cards is both hypocritical and stupid.
Always act in the customer’s best interests. If you can’t serve someone well, regardless of the reason (too busy, mismatched need), try to connect them with someone who can be of real help. If you can’t make an appropriate referral with confidence, give advice that will help your customer find a good resource: criteria to consider, places to look, people to ask, etc. Whatever you do, don’t put yourself first.
In the midst of the biggest power outage ever to darken the Northeast, three days in at our house, I received a call, presumably from no more than 100 miles away, but obviously in the lit half of the state. My alma mater wanted money. I wanted lights, running water, heat, a hot shower, and a refrigerator with the power to stay cold. Had he been calling from California, it would have been more understandable. But he wasn’t. And here he was consuming the battery of my only form of communication. My only means of calling for help, should it come to that. Why do you suppose I wasn’t feeling patient, friendly, and generous? It is too easy to plow through our daily routines oblivious to the possibility of death, famine, pestilence, and other hardships until it walks into our own lives. “How are you today?” roles off the tongue with ease, though many people barely pause for a response.
We have a weird bathroom. When we first moved in, we couldn’t imagine why the previous owner had not installed any towel racks. It took one trip to the local plumbing fixture store to learn why. None of the standard rods are the right length for any of the spaces in our bathroom. Nonetheless, we picked out a style we wanted, one which was not on display, and inquired about the outer dimensions of various options. No one seemed able to tell us whether the length listed in the catalog was the measurement of the rod available for hanging, the distance between the centers of the wall mounts, or the outer dimension of the entire assembly. Guesses were easy to come by; definitive answers were not. So we did without. A year later we returned, repeated the exercise exactly, and left with the same decision: to do without. This past summer, we returned once more. I was determined to have towel racks.
I am tickled pink by the incredibly green mileage of my new blue Prius, but red with anger over the yellow highlighted “Excellent” ratings on the sample customer satisfaction survey handed to me by the salesman as I drove off. “If I get less then 90%, Toyota will throw me under the bus,” he said. Toyota wants feedback that the salesman fears and, as a result, the customer suffers.
I attended a teleconference this past week during which I learned some interesting things. I wanted to follow up with a quick phone call to the presenter. My experience in that endeavor reveals the easiest way to avoid customers. You may be doing the same thing and not even realize it. Here is my story: I googled the company name. The result was nothing but confusing. The only references to that company were on secondary websites (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn). There was no reference to “that company.com.” The company’s Facebook page had no contact information. It didn’t have anything else either, for that matter. Another secondary site had a link to “that company.com”and it redirected me to “another company.com.” Apparently the company name has been changed recently. When I finally arrive there, I can tell that I have found the right website, but I am many minutes in at this point. How many people would have quit by now?
Are your products as simple as a banana? Do they provide instant recognition? Have no moving parts? Sell for a fairly small and stable price? Require no installation? No explanation? No registration? No warranty? If yes, your products, like a banana, can be sold without building trust. Trust is not a big factor in the sale of a banana. It’s easy to trust a banana. Unless, of course, you are dealing with someone who has never seen a banana. But then, the banana is no longer simple, is it?