The Devil is in the Details
This saying is generally attributed to Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) who maintained that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; details are important.
Unfortunately stories about poor customer service are more frequent than we would hope. Sometimes bad customer service is delivered with good intentions. A situation occurred recently that made me think about the importance of doing things right or not doing them at all.
Last year, a friend and I celebrated her birthday with an evening of pampering and manicures at a spa in our neighbourhood. We both enjoyed the experience and agreed that we would return for future services.
Exactly one year and one day after our visit, I received an e-mail from the spa. The message read “Thank you so much for using our services yesterday. I hope you and your friend Alice Smith enjoyed your experience. We look forward to hearing from you again soon.”
Nice message, but off by a year! And, to boot, my friend’s name isn’t Alice Smith it’s Alice Jones. While it may not seem like a big deal, these simple mistakes made the company look amateurish. I would rather not have received the message than to have gotten one that made me question the professionalism of the business. My earlier positive feelings about the business have now been tainted.
So, the moral of my story is that as a business owner, when I am sending out personalized e-mails or print materials, I really need to be sure that I get the details right if I want the message to be effective. Otherwise, I might be better off sending generic messages which, even if less effective, I know are will be accurate and correct.
CR
This saying is generally attributed to Gustave Flaubert (1821-80) who maintained that whatever one does should be done thoroughly; details are important.
Unfortunately stories about poor customer service are more frequent than we would hope. Sometimes bad customer service is delivered with good intentions. A situation occurred recently that made me think about the importance of doing things right or not doing them at all.
Last year, a friend and I celebrated her birthday with an evening of pampering and manicures at a spa in our neighbourhood. We both enjoyed the experience and agreed that we would return for future services.
Exactly one year and one day after our visit, I received an e-mail from the spa. The message read “Thank you so much for using our services yesterday. I hope you and your friend Alice Smith enjoyed your experience. We look forward to hearing from you again soon.”
Nice message, but off by a year! And, to boot, my friend’s name isn’t Alice Smith it’s Alice Jones. While it may not seem like a big deal, these simple mistakes made the company look amateurish. I would rather not have received the message than to have gotten one that made me question the professionalism of the business. My earlier positive feelings about the business have now been tainted.
So, the moral of my story is that as a business owner, when I am sending out personalized e-mails or print materials, I really need to be sure that I get the details right if I want the message to be effective. Otherwise, I might be better off sending generic messages which, even if less effective, I know are will be accurate and correct.
CR
posted by Women's Enterprise Centre at
8:36 AM
2 Comments:
Personally I think that if the service was good than you should revisit the spa. I think we put too big of expectations on business. To think that we would never go back over such a silly thing as getting a last person’s name wrong. I am a small business owner, and we all make mistakes. If you want a machine go to Wal-Mart.
Wow, I just found this blog and it's great. Thanks for posting these tips. I'll read it regularly.
Post a Comment
<< Home