Every now and then, someone will break a promise to you - it happens - you deal with it! But, when it comes to customer service, this becomes a point of contention. You, the customer, are incensed! How dare they - don't they realize I may never shop here again? The fact is, broken promises are inevitable. You can play the part of the
wounded party; or you may become the
enabler; or you may seize the opportunity to grow and become the
catalyst. We've all been one of the three at any given time, often depending on our own state of mind at the time.
The '
wounded party' laments the fact that the shop has broken a promise to them, they usually whine and complain to someone other than the person who can make a change. That is, they tell their family, friends etc., but, would never dream of bringing it to the attention of the business itself. While at times this may make someone think twice about shopping at the offending shop, usually it just annoys them to be hearing, yet again, another event in the continuing saga of the '
wounded party'.
The
'enabler' is similar to the wounded party, except they (despite their protestations to the contrary) keep going back for more. They'll complain at home, at work or anywhere else someone will listen to them, but, in the end, they keep going back to the same shop, for more of the same abuse, each time thinking, they won't do it again. They will even complain to the business, but, regardless of the outcome, they will be back for more.
The '
catalyst' understands crap happens and knows that the reason for a broken promise is often the result of poor communication. They deal with the shop employees and failing a favourable result would then they take their issue to the shop owner. After all, everyone is not going to behave as you would yourself and the owner may not be aware that they are breaking promises to their customers. You really do want to give them the benefit of the doubt.
So, where to start?
Scenario 1 - a promotion in a shop says 'buy 2 of a certain product - get a free recyclable bag.
Okay, you buy two and the salesperson says,"would you like to buy a bag for that?"
You - "No, a bag comes with it, you respond."
Salesperson - "Oh, sorry, we ran out of bags for that promotion."
You - "That's okay, just mark my receipt and I'll pick one up next time I come in. "
Salesperson - "We won't be getting any more in, it was a promotion." Then, as you stand there, quietly, adds - "I'll give you one of our store brand recycle bags."
You - "Thank you."
Do you see what happened here - instead of ranting, "It's just a ploy to get people into the store," you've allowed the person serving you to come up with a solution to keep the smiling person in front of them smiling.
Of course, not all incidence would allow for an easy solution, but, one is usually available if both parties are willing to look for it. No salesperson wants a confrontation with a customer and no customer should want that either.
Scenario 2 - a business you deal with all the time offers free in home inspection of your furnace for cleaning purposes.
Great deal - you call and the customer service rep asks you how many heating vents are installed in your home. You tell them and they respond that your cleaning will be a certain amount. You ask them - do they not have to come out and do an inspection? No, apparently, the fee depends on the amount of time they would typically spend in a home, so they have broken down the prices to directly relate to the number of vents. OK, you book a cleaning.
The cleaning crew arrives and brings in all their equipment and hauls it down to the basement. Then, the crew leader comes back up and tells you how much the cleaning will cost, which of course is more than the stated amount. You tell them you've been quoted a certain amount. They respond by telling you that your system is more complicated than that and it will cost more. You thank them for their time and tell them you will need to contact the company again and that you will not be getting a cleaning at this time.
So, what to do next?
You call the company (not the call centre as they cannot help you), who tells you that this is standard procedure and they (cleaning crew) do not know what they are dealing with until they come out. You point out to them that this is exactly what you had requested in the first place (remember the free in home estimate you called about?) and they (the call centre hired by the company) had told you it wasn't necessary as they could judge by the amount of ducts in your home. Then the company tries to tell you they don't offer free in home estimates as that would be too time consuming and costly, so, they just send out the cleaning crew.
Since you have the 'free in home estimate' literature in your hand, you point out that they are not honouring their word and not only are you hold said documentation in your hand, but it is also available on their website.
The catalyst doesn't whine and complain to people who can't remedy the situation. They don't take broken promises lightly and sometimes extra time must be expended to ensure that everyone is honouring what they have said they will do.
In the end it comes down to you. What is important to you? I've heard people say - "What's the use?" This is very defeating and not only will there not be change, the businesses are not given the opportunity to change.
If you want them to do better, they need to know where they are not meeting your expectations.
Become a catalyst!
