You ever have one of those moments where you have to live out what you believe and it sucks?
First go read this short post.
The basic gist of the post above is when someone expresses unhappiness with your service, the only real thing to do is say “you’re right” and set about fixing the problem.
The reality is, it’s a process to get to that point. Yesterday I read that post and agreed with every word of it. I thought of all the times I’d complained to businesses only to have them argue that I was wrong and they were right. Is the customer really right anymore?
So, having agreed with Godin, I proceeded with my day. Then I get an e-mail late last night from a client. One of the parts of the e-mail expressed concern that I hadn’t met the deadlines I had set in the past few weeks.
So what’s the first thought when you get an e-mail like that? Is it “you’re right?” No. The first thing that went through my head was all the things that happened throughout those weeks. All the things that took precedent over them. All the things that they didn’t even know about.
And then I remembered, “you’re right.” And they were. After working through all the reasons they were wrong and I was right, I realized it was the other way around. I should have hit those deadlines and didn’t. There are no excuses.
So I started the e-mail back to them, “you’re right,” and proceeded to apologize and make sure they were happy. And I feel good about it. Far better than if I’d sent an e-mail with all the reasons I was late.
And I really appreciated the e-mail too. I’d prefer to know if someone wasn’t 100% satisfied with my service than just assuming they were.
So is your first inclination to write a “you’re right” e-mail when someone honestly calls you on something?
