If you buy an Apple product you expect to get the coolest must-have electronic gadget available. But service is secondary. You need to work around their schedule, not the other way around. But you know that when you buy their products.
And that is the way with most things that are in high demand. Where they have a virtual monopoly and can make the rules.
But where there is competition. And where you do have choices. Caring for your client does matter.
Are they really doing you a favor?
This week I felt like a few vendors I work with had that same approach. Where they were doing us a favor by providing their services to us. And that may be true. Or it may not be. We’ll see where things go in the future.
But I also experienced a truly value-based approach with high level of customer service and follow up.
And the experience was very different. I’ll lay several customer service examples – you be the judge. Which vendors would you choose to do more business with in the future? And which ones may have an avalanche coming their way that could put a dent in their future prospects?
Situation #1 – Great start, fumbled finish
- New Vendor
- Promises will use their best resources and provide a good result
- Vendor jumps on a last minute project
- Good quality result prior to paperwork delivery
- Go back work required
- Vendor doesn’t respond with paperwork or expected delivery date in expected timeframe
- Vendor vents frustration that we’re being difficult our paperwork requests
- Vendor does not circle back with original contact to find out how work went and get additional feedback
Situation #2 – Great start, fantastic finish
- New Vendor
- Vendor promise best resources and a good result but will have some bumps along the way as they learn our processes and bring in some other value adds that will help us longer term
- Vendor jumps on a last minute project
- Good quality result prior to paperwork delivery
- Go back work required
- Vendor jumps on the fixes right away
- Vendor follows up to discuss lessons learned and proposes additional offerings to fit our needs
Situation #3 – Clueless Complacency
- Vendor shows up late to job site where timeliness is critical
- Claims bad traffic
- Vendor representative is contacted by management to find out what happened
- Vendor representative says that it isn’t that important to show up on time since once the project is underway no one will remember the start lateness
- Our client does not feel the same way and escalates accordingly
Situation #4 – Failure to Communicate
- Vendor is a quality vendor who has a solid history
- Vendor has internal issues that affects the ability to do future work
- Vendor does not inform us
- Vendor stops returning phone calls
- Vendor representative is contacted by management and they share their challenges
Situation #5 – Effective Communication
- Vendor is a quality vendor who has a solid history
- Vendor is contacted for work and mentions they have another project that will keep them busy for the next month and they won’t be able to take on new work
Situation #6 – Inward Focus to the Detriment of Client’s Goals
- Vendor is a quality vendor who has a solid history
- Vendor team member communicates that their company has put limits on them that could cause them to miss a deadline
- This is not communicated by Vendor Management
When dealing with complex projects, communication and commitment to the shared goals and deadlines is critical for success.
And although projects can be difficult and there are times where you want to openly share information and times when you want to dig in deeper before sharing, not communicating in a timely fashion and not caring about your client’s client is often a recipe for disaster.
But it is amazing how few business owners (and their staff) see it that way. And what it does is ultimately create bad blood and cost them business.
Communicate freely and regularly and align yourself with your client’s goals
Open and honest sharing of information (although painful at times) will often help everyone hit their objectives quicker and easier. And ensure a flow of future work.
So if you are facing difficult situations. Remember these examples before you try to bury things and shade the truth with your team and clients. Because although you may avoid a blowup in the short term, the long term could be the death of your company.
