“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate,” I think we’ve all heard this quote from “Cool Hand Luke,” but sadly, it happens all too often. Today in my BNI (Business Network International) meeting, the featured presenter asked us what qualities we look for in a good contractor, and my answer was communication. Good communication is all I can ask of anyone. It comes down to this. I can’t adjust or fix any issues if I don’t know what they are…communication.
Another part of my day brought a set of miscommunications. I pay extra for a white-labeled program I use in my business. The white labeling coding isn’t working correctly. Over a month ago, I pointed this out to my representative. I received an email from this correspondence saying they needed to figure out the issue and would get back to me when they had a solution. I heard nothing. So today, I pressed the subject again and received an email saying they had sent the code records in mid-November. Guess what? I never saw the email, and after looking extensively in both my inbox and spam, this mysterious email was nowhere to be found. What happened? I have no idea. Perhaps the sender mistyped the email address. Or maybe they never hit send on the completed correspondence. I don’t know. But, I do know that if the company or my rep had simply communicated to see if I had gotten the new code, particularly when they heard nothing back from me, we could have resolved the issue. And let me point out that the email I never saw asked me to acknowledge receipt and action (the rep made a point to screenshot this email). If communication had taken place, I’d be a much happier customer. As it stands, my mood and mindset as a customer are very much not satisfied, almost to the point that I don’t care how good the product is; I’m not sure I want to work with a company that devalues its customers. The simple truth is that these days simply showing up and communicating with our customers is considered “above and beyond.” How sad is it that just showing up means I’m giving excellent customer service? I, for one, want to strive for a much higher level. I believe the basis of any good relationship is communication. Yes, we have relationships with our customers. We need to serve and connect with them; it all begins with active listening and good communication.
What are your thoughts?
Action: Listen, listen, and listen. The next time you’re in a large group of people purposely listen for 3 minutes and see what you learn.
Final thought: Listening is a key component to Communication
