We wanted to bring our bikes on vacation this year, so that we could ride as a family along the Cape Cod Rail Trail. We needed a bike rack for the four bikes, but before that we needed to have a hitch put on our car. So we made an appointment to have the work done about a week before leaving. When we went to pick up the car there was a woman at the desk who was, well, not happy. It seems that she needed to have some work done on her car before heading on vacation as well. She wanted a roof rack installed along with a rooftop carrier. Unfortunately she only asked for a roof rack, she never asked for the carrier. And here she was, supposed to leave on vacation tomorrow, and without a place to store her stuff.
The man behind the counter did his best to stay calm. He reminded her a few times that she had asked for a roof rack, and that was what they installed. After some back and forth the woman finally said what may be the perfect way to summarize a customer relationship:
“I know you gave me what I asked for, but I don’t want you to be right. I want you to make it right.”
And there is the difference. The guy behind the counter was doing everything he could to prove that what he did was right. The woman didn’t care about him being right, or her being wrong. What she wanted was a solution, she wanted things to be right.
And with that the man offered to call around to see if they could find a roof carrier for her, which is what she wanted. Well, half of what she wanted. She also wants it installed!
The point here is that many of us deal with customers and clients often. Keep in mind that they aren’t always looking for you to be right, they want you to make it right. Know the difference between the two and you’ll do very well for yourself in your profession.
Agreed – it’s always best to think about the complete solution, both before and after the situation. And there’s fault here as well (possibly) if they didn’t tell her she would need both.
But there’s also fault on the part of this woman. I see it all the time – people want to dump a problem and have someone else fix it. Even when a vendor is at fault, I try to come up with possible ways to fix the issue, not “this is your problem”. Unfortunately we’ve raised a generation of “non-thinkers” these days that can’t see past the issue.
Great post – thanks!
Well said! The company I work for prides itself on excellent customer service and we see that pay off time and time again. We don’t have the lowest price points in our industry, and yet our customers return time and time again because they know we will do what needs done to ‘make it right’. Fortunately that bleeds into our corporate culture and is how we strive to treat co-workers and vendors as well.
Thanks for reminding me (us) that what we do is “service” oriented. We can’t forget that we are supposed to be the experts not our clients/customers. They know what they want. It’s all in their head. And by God, they know when they’re talking to you, they heard themselves say what was in their head. They know they told you exactly what was in their head. This too unfortunately, is in their head. So what ends up happening is exactly what happened in the example above.
We as professionals shouldn’t forget to ask questions to further clarify the intent of our clients/customers. May be we can hear some more of what’s in their head to help us provide the desired solution before it gets to the “make it right” solution.
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Great post, Tom! This is such an important point that I have forwarded this to everyone in my department as a gentle reminder for all of us. I think in our profession particularly, we have a tendency to think in terms of right and wrong and we strive to BE right. But that may not be enough.