when you suffer at the hands of a bad person, service or product…
It’s happened to us all. We buy a flashlight that doesn’t work, purchase a conferencing service that doesn’t record when it’s supposed to (true story, still bitter) or we work with a person who turns out to, well, suck.
And what do you do about it? Do you write a letter, an email, make a phone call? Or do you make no direct move? With social media, you could take to your blog, tell everyone on Twitter, put a picture of the offensive thing with a big X over it on Flickr. Or not.
What are the repercussions of voicing your dissatisfaction? You could get a new flashlight, a reimbursement, a door in the face, the ‘bad person’ could be so slimey that they retaliate…or nothing at all could happen.
And if you don’t say anything? Well, you won’t get a comped replacement, there will be no reimbursement. But, there also won’t be an uncomfortable confrontation.
Let me tell you a little story…
I do not come from a line of practical jokers, but my wife does. I’ve seen her dump a bucket of cold water on someone who was enjoying a warm shower (me), I’ve seen her glue a handset to it’s phone base (her co-workers), I’ve seen her cover an entire car in duct tape (a friend). But her shining moment was when she got every member of my family (5 in total) soaking wet, one after the other.
You know the spray hose thingy on your sink? Well, she secured its lever to the on position with a rubber band, aimed it forward and systematically watched as every single one of us turned on the water and got blasted. This was during our summer vacation and we were all sharing a house – so her plan was contingent on those of us who had already been sprayed keeping quiet. We did, we maliciously let those around us go down in flames drips.
And, as I ponder this dilemma – to speak out or not to speak out – I can’t help but look back at the water spray incident above and think that it is important to speak out about a bad situation. Because if you don’t, everyone that comes after you will get sopping wet in one way or another.
Now, I know that every situation is unique, but all in all, dear readers, do you have an opinion? How do you handle these situations and why? And, yes, something has happened and I’m having a very heated internal debate about how to handle it – and, yes, it was someone on the internet and, no, I don’t want anyone else to get ‘sprayed’ by him.
FYI, this article was partially inspired by the fabulous Ann Hadley, over at Annarchy, who wrote an inspired post yesterday about family camaraderie and practical jokes.
Filed under How To, The Business | Tags: bad product, bad service, Blogging, confrontation, customer service, social media | Comments (14)what happens when technology fails
I don’t cry very often. I can count the times I’ve cried so far this year on one hand – in March when my brother told me he had to give his dog away, in June as the credits rolled on the Sex & the City movie (who am I kidding? I cried through the entire movie) and yesterday when my email wouldn’t work. Yes, I cried like a baby when I could neither send or receive email on my computer.
I’m a little bit ashamed, not so much by the tears, but because of my rabid dependence on the internet. I was frozen, paralyzed by my inability to email. It was suggested to me that I ‘use the time to get some writing done’ which sounds romantic and all, but when I’m done writing, my email will still be down.
Ahhh, and we’re back to the freelancer’s dilemma. I can’t call IT and tell them to deal with this while I work. So I sat on the phone with some young, and fairly rude, guys from Bluehost for over an hour. They told me that they had done all that they could, that no one on their team ‘knew Macs’ and that this was obviously a Mac problem, not a server problem. Really? Because when I signed up for Bluehost, it didn’t say ‘We do not support or service Mac users.” That’s when I started to cry: my life had ended and my precious work day was slipping away.
And then I remembered 1-800-275-2273, otherwise known as Apple Care, otherwise known as manna from heaven. I talked to Stefanie, and she was so nice to me, sincerely kind – even though I was crying and lunatical. She walked me through everything – even through checking my mail via the Bluehost webmail page to make sure it wasn’t a server issue – and let me assure you that she did this even though she doesn’t ‘know Bluehost’. My ports had ‘reset’ themselves to the wrong numbers overnight – something that I find rather creepy and rude. But, now I know where the ports are and I know the numbers they like – I even wrote it all down so I wouldn’t have to go through this next time.
I lost two hours yesterday, and it wasn’t completely world-ending. I’m not thrilled with Bluehost (usually their customer service is so good and so not 16 year-old, smart-ass & boy-like). I am thrilled with Apple and have been since the day I walked into the store to by my Macbook (note: I haven’t purchased a new iPhone or engaged MobileMe). And a big THANKS to my techie angel, Stefanie.
Filed under The Business | Tags: Apple, Bluehost, copywriting, customer service, email malfunction, internet dependence, Julie Roads, small business owner, virtual company, Writing Roads | Comments (2)best printing (and green to boot)
As a copywriter, my clients and I have used many printers for projects over the years. And, I have a favorite. Now, I’m all for going local, but I live in a virtual world and my clients are all over the country – so that ship has sailed. Printing for Less (PFL) is, by far, my favorite printer. They are so wonderful that I’m thinking about asking Leo, my go-to-guy, to marry me.
1. When I call Priting For Less, they route my call directly to my team, the Eagle Team. The phone rings, and one of my guys answers and knows it’s me. This is called over-the-top-notch customer service.
2. Mistakes happen. The reality is that what happened doesn’t matter, but what you’re going to do about it does. My team makes every effort to listen, get to the bottom of it and work with me on a solution. They’ve caught my mistakes, they’ve made up for theirs.
3. The quality is superior, first-rate, primo, fabulous, consistent, solid, GOOD.
4. Pricing is always an issue. For clients, it’s often that ‘thing’ that they forgot to factor in. Printing for Less is beyond reasonable and competitive. Their prices actually delight me (and they’ve been known to give discounts for non-profits!), and they offer enormous bulk savings.
5. Green, green, green. Here are just a few of PFL’s eco-conscious efforts:
- They offer recycled paper stocks, soy-based inks and water-based coatings, and they strive to offer sensible alternatives that help sustain the environment.
- PFL recently earned the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC) Chain-of-Custody Certification for their sustainable paper sourcing practices. This certification is a guarantee to their customers that products printed on house stocks come from well-managed forests adhering to strict environmental standards.
Visit: http://www.printingforless.com/printingandenvironment.html for even more green info…
Bottomline: I highly recommend Printing for Less for your next printing project – but don’t you dare call Leo, he’s mine.
Filed under The Business | Tags: affordable printing, copywriting, customer service, good customer service, green printing, Marketing, printing, printing for less, printingforless.com, Writing | Comments (2)good customer service (when it’s all so personal)
This morning I attended a great networking event about customer service. A panel of both seasoned and seedling women business owners shared their experiences about how to make customer service work. And the panel was moderated by Bonnie Marcus, an inspired business coach. www.womenssuccesscoaching.com
They all had wonderfully insightful things to say:
1. practice active listening
2. always find a solution – even if it can’t be the solution your client is looking for
3. acknowledge and validate your client’s experience
But, the one that is totally ‘stuck in my craw’ (if you can tell me what show that quote is from, I will make you brownies), was this one cccrrrraaaaazzzzzyyyyyyy word: DETACH.
I know! As writers, designers, small business owners, how do we not take things personally when criticism or dissatisfaction comes our way? How do we step back and say to ourselves, “oh, she’s unhappy about word choice, but not with me.” That is so hard. For me, I am my words. This is my blood, sweat and tears (and my laughter, connection and joy).
I manage, somehow, because I have to. I act like an adult, I stand up for myself, I admit where I’m wrong, I problem solve – and I feel better for being a ‘big’ person. I get through it – I do everything I listed above – because everyone’s experience is real, and I’m human too, I get it. A wiffle ball bat and a big cushion for when that phone call is over…well, that helps too.
How do you do it? How do you detach so that you can provide professional and great customer service to your clients when there is a negative issue.
Filed under How To, The Business | Tags: copywriting, criticism, customer service, Marketing, professionalism, small business owner, Writing | Comment (0)
