Taking Ownership – The Key To Success
Mar 30th 2010DrewAdvertising & Business & Marketing & Signage
At ICSigns, We Take Customer Service Seriously
This will be the last ski-related blog for a while – I promise!
I have just returned from a week’s ski vacation at Big White in BC. At the end of the last day, I was retrieving our skis from the lock-up but one of our locks refused to release. I started to feel pressure because a shuttle bus would soon arrive to take us to the airport and if we missed that, we could miss our flight home. I analyzed the situation and realized that the lock body and outer covering had become misaligned, trapping the bar which held the skis. No amount of pressure or tapping (or swearing) would convince the lock to release. My only resource was to go to the front desk and ask for assistance. The lock was ours but it is the same model that the accommodation loans its guests to lock their skis in the lock-up room. The man at the front desk assured me they had had the same problem with the locks and he knew how to resolve it. With screw-driver in hand, he accompanied me to the lock-up and deftly released the lock. I thanked him profusely and we were able to board our bus on time.
Why am I telling you this? Not because I was impressed with the service at our accommodations, which I was, but because of what happened later. Upon arrival home, I decided that the four locks we had were of little value if we could not retrieve our skis at the appropriate time. So I sought a solution.
Ski Key (the name of the lock system) is a product that is used Canada-wide. I wondered if the company had a solution to my problem. On Sunday, I went to the internet and searched them out. Their website has a ‘Contact’ button which I clicked on and sent a short note expressing my concerns and asking if there was any warranty for locks that were several years old. To my surprise, later that day (Sunday!) I received an email from the president telling me that yes, he does warrant his products and if I was to take the locks to any ski shop, they would replace them with new ones. And if they had any questions about the exchange, they should call him directly (he gave his phone number). He informed me that some of the locks from a manufacturer had this problem but he has since changed manufacturers and the problem has been resolved.
This is the point of my blog this week. Taking ownership for our mistakes and resolving the problem without question so that the client becomes a champion of your product rather than a detractor. Here is someone who is passionate about the product he sells and stands behind it despite the fact he will have to replace probably thousands of locks. He has decided that the reputation of his company is worth more than the cost of a large batch of locks. I admire that and I also know how that feels.
Several years ago, we too had a product failure with a batch of large printed signs that were sent to Montreal and environs. The laminate detached from the print, obviously an adhering problem. These were no ordinary signs but a large and complex system suspended from the ceiling. As soon as I was informed of the problem, I flew to Montreal and inspected all the locations where the signs had been installed. I decided that all had to be replaced and even though it was not us that had installed them (the customer’s contractor had done that) we would go on site, take down the old signs and re-install the new ones. We did that as soon as the new signs were printed, using a different batch of laminate that the manufacturer assured us would not come apart. This was an expensive venture for us but the customer appreciated that we stood behind our product and we resolved the problem without any disruption to their operations. Happily, the new product proved successful and we sold many more to the customer.
Yes, here at ICSigns, we stand behind everything we sell, even if that stance costs us time, material and money. We will not compromise on quality or customer satisfaction. To me, that is more important than anything.
How about you? Have you experienced these kinds of inconsistent results with your suppliers? I would love to get your comments. Here on my blog, you’ll get commentluv. That’s great for you bloggers out there. By leaving a comment, you can leave a link back to your own blog. But you don’t have to be a blogger to leave a comment. I’d like to hear from all of you!
Happy signing,
Drew.
