First of all I want to apologize to all of our followers for the delay since our most recent post. We have been on the road working with clients and talking with groups incredible customer service. It was a fantastic trip and we met many top performers. Unfortunately, my return home was “muddied up”, quite literally, by our window washing company.
It has been a long, rainy and stormy winter here in Boston. As a result, the windows in our condominium were filthy. My much better half and I have worked very hard to make our home in the city a reality and our view of the Boston skyline is something we treasure. After long trips I like to return home to sit in my chair and watch the city light up over the harbor. I knew my windows were being cleaned by our buildings cleaning service while I was gone so I was excited to get back to watch the boats sail by out of my freshly cleaned front windows. Unfortunately, that is not how things worked out!
When I returned home I brewed a nice cup of coffee and then walked across the room to push open my blinds. There, staring me in the face, was not the clean windows I expected. Instead, I found streaky, almost muddy, spotted windows. I was puzzled because they looked as bad as when I left but it was obvious that somebody had worked on them.
My next stop was the building managers office. When I arrived I told our great manager (we are lucky to have her) about my windows and I politely let her know that I would like the cleaners to return and finish the job. Her response was troubling. She told me that the cleaning manager told her that the windows were not cleanable unless they received the “special acid wash” treatment. ”I don’t think that will be necessary” I told her. After all this was just a case of a several missed spots. Her response to this comment was even more troubling. She told me that we cannot clean the windows this year because we needed the “special acid wash treatment” and it is going to cost $15,000. ”We do not have that in the budget this year so we will have to wait.”
Frustrated and confused by all of this I journeyed back upstairs to take a second look at the windows. After sliding them open I reached my hand out the window and rubbed my fingers on the dirt streaks. Sure enough, the mud wiped away without a problem! This was not an “acid wash” issue! This was an “elbow grease” issue! Whoever had washed our windows just did not take the time to do the job right
I returned to the management office to share the good news about not needing to invest $15,000 dollars to get clean windows in our building. Our manager seemed a bit perplexed as the owner of the window company had been adamant about our need for the “special acid wash.” Clearly, we did not! I asked her to send the crew foreman up to re-clean my windows which she did.
When the foreman arrived I suspected this would be a simple conversation. I suspected he would see the streaks, apologize and have his team revisit my windows. He came in and, in a slightly irreverent, tone informed me that we needed to “acid wash” the windows to get them clean. I disagreed and reached out the window to show him how I could make the streak disappear with just the tip of my finger. He responded with a question: So what do you want me to do? ”I can take them out and hand wash them for myself” he continued. He seemed frustrated by my request to have my windows cleaned correctly.
Ultimately, I told him to either have his guys go over them again or leave them as they are and I would personally hire another company to come and clean the windows. At the end of the day, the windows got cleaned but this company missed a huge opportunity to do the right thing and win me over as a customer.
Here is the summary of the what happened and what will happen from customer’s point of view:
- Somebody was slacking who was responsible for cleaning our windows
- Somebody was slacking from a leadership standpoint around quality control on this project
- Somebody was trying to up-sell “special acid wash” to our building when all we really needed was “elbow grease”
- Somebody did not handle the conversation with me correctly and as a result….
- I will attend our next condo board meeting and suggest our association hire a new window company
This all could have been avoided if the person doing the job did the job right the first time. This all could have been avoided had the person leading the project just made sure his team did the job right the first time. This all could have been avoided had they just been accountable for the poor work product they delivered and admitted when the job was done incorrectly. This all could have been avoided had they not tried to sell us something we did not need.
So when somebody tells you need something more than you think you need try to remember our story. Sometimes they will try to sell you “acid wash” when all you really need is “elbow grease.”
At the end of the day I am going to do my best to make sure we get a new and better provider and that is unfortunate for their company. They might lose a big contract because this incident suggests that they will cut corners, try to sell extra services, not take responsibility for their work and cannot be trusted.
The moral to the story? Elbow Grease is an element that seems to be fading away these days. But, it is still as valuable as gold!
Tags: customer service, employee engagement, leadership, retail customer service, retail service quality index, RSQI, teamwork