Do you keep your promises in business?

As a Customer or Client, I love it when businesses communicate with me every step of the way, keeping me posted, and if they make a promise, honouring their word.

Recently I contacted a tradesman to provide a quote for some repair work around the house. I explicitly mentioned that this was an urgent job and I needed a Quote ASAP. The tradesman had come highly recommended, so this conferred some credibility upon him. John sounded competent and pleasant enough on the phone. He inspected the job that very day. “Great!” I thought. “We’re off to a good start.”

But I thought too soon.

When I emailed John to enquire when he hoped to have the Quote ready, my email went unanswered for a couple of days. I called John on his mobile and left a voice-mail. Again, no response from him. I was feeling ignored, and as if I didn’t count.

Three polite email messages from me later, and John finally got back to me.

But my relief was short-lived. There was no quote attached. John simply wrote that he would hopefully send the Quote to me by close of business that day.

“What does hopefully even mean?” I wondered. Either you’re going to send it or you’re not going to send it! It’s analogous to when someone says they’ll “try” to start exercising. If they really want to, they won’t just try, they’ll do it!

Two days later – miracle of miracles – the elusive Quote finally arrived in my email inbox (minus any form of explanation or apology).

The level of detail on the Quote had definitely not been worth the wait. It was the simplest, most basic quote possible – a mere sentence or two along with a dollar amount. There was no mention of the problem being fixed, no breakdown of time, materials or labour.

To add insult to injury, there were three pages of “standard” legal terms, conditions and exclusions written in technical, gobbledegook jargon that only a lawyer could decipher.

I had waited eight days for this pathetic quote, prepared without one iota of care.

Author Dr Maya Angelou, once famously said:

When people show you who they are, believe them the first time”.

 I learnt two valuable lessons from this experience:

1. Not to repeatedly give people the “benefit of the doubt”. I now religiously adhere to Maya Angelou’s words of wisdom.

2. Just because a person is recommended, it does not automatically mean that they are reliable and competent! In fact, it is potentially dangerous to assume this.

Sure, it was back to the Drawing Board for me in terms of sourcing another tradesman. But I was lucky - John had revealed his true colours and I had been spared the future aggravation of working with him.

If you value your customers’ and clients’ loyalty, put yourself in their shoes, and resolve to see things from their perspective. Your aim should be to always do the right thing by them. Remember - loyalty is a two-way street.

Growing up, my father always told me that what truly matters in life are deeds not words. Clergyman, John William Fletcher, expressed this perfectly in his quote: Deeds, not words shall speak to me.

© 2020 Susan Weser.  All rights reserved.