When we humans receive good service, we rarely compliment. When we love a product and it is something we use daily, we do not write to the company and tell them how much we love their product. We must make more of an effort to give bouquets of words to people who look after us or manufacture things which make our lives easier and better.
We no longer have an excuse not to do it. Back in the days when you had to use a typewriter or handwrite things, I can understand it took a bit of effort. Most companies have email or websites with contact forms. In the time you can leave a comment on a blog, you can send a compliment to a company. If you love a product you might want to let the company know just how much you love it – or they might stop making it!
It only takes a moment to send a quick email and I challenge you to send one (or more!) today. What would you write? Feel free to copy and paste this and modify it to suit. ;)
Dear (company),
I love (product!) I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy (using it, eating it, drinking it, etc). (if you want to insert something about how you use the product or why it is useful to you, put that here) Keep up the great work!
Regards,
(me)
When we get bad service, most of us complain about it. If we do not complain to the company involved, we will complain to friends, family, even people we don’t know very well but happen to mention to us they are looking for what that company provides. We’ll say “Don’t go to (company) because (info about negative experience)”.
In both cases it is very important to let the company know how their staff are doing. They might have no idea a staff member is constantly leaving customers with a bad taste in their mouths and a dislike for their company. They might not know just how good a job one of their staff is doing in providing good service.
This new place we are moving to, we almost did not get to look at it. We arranged the time to visit the property. I was already daydreaming about BBQ’s on the balcony, sea breezes, beach walks. Yes, I know I said I was going to try not to do that anymore, but I couldn’t help it. I had asked about the cats and the property manager said they would find out if pets were allowed. Just a short time later I got this email –
I have just spoken to (one of the other employees) and he advises that there are strictly no pets at the property. I’m sorry – was there anything else that you were interested in?
Note the excellent last line there, that’s great customer service! Other people might have left it at just the one sentence. Because of that sentence, I replied with more info on what we needed in a property – I had already left details with one of their offices but not the one she worked at, they have two offices here in different coastal towns.
I replied re the cats –
That’s very shortsighted of the landlords, I must say. :( We’re good long term tenants! What if we agreed to put in the lease if our pets did any damage we could pay for it? But realistically that is exactly what they have a security bond for, so..
And that’s where I thought it would end and I was once again feeling a little heartbroken .. but this property manager is very good at her job. The next day I got this email –
I have forwarded your email on to (other employee) – he listed these properties. He has advised me that he will look into your request today. If it is a ruling of the Body Corporate then I don’t think there is much we can do.If not we may still stand a chance. I will keep you informed of the outcome.
And later that day –
I have just heard back from (other employee) and he has advised that the cats will be OK. So do you wish to keep our appointment for Friday afternoon?
Damn right I do! ;) And so we did take a look, though it was with another employee of the company as the property manager was very busy and it was lovely. We put in our application and waited to hear. On Tuesday, a day earlier than we expected, they let us know we were approved.
When we finally got to meet the lady who was responsible for making our dream come true, I thanked her enthusiastically for her efforts, especially re the cats. She is a fellow cat lover, and understood how important it was to us. I’m already putting together a letter to the manager of her company praising her and her service. I’d like to send it before we even get the keys, she made such a great impression on me.
I shall not be leaving bouquets for the current property manager. I wrote about how she may have been leaving the house rolled up in a carpet when she messed me about with inspections back in December. It’s now August and we have not had an inspection since – eight months. I bet the landlord is thrilled – actually I bet he does not know.
When we first moved in here, three things were wrong with the place. We wanted the landlord to put in screen doors so we could open the doors and get a breeze. We NEEDED a vent put into the laundry for the dryer. A light is badly wired – to the point it could potentially cause a fire.
We attended the real estate office and put in a form. We have asked on several occasions re those things. A year and a half later, all we’ve had is excuses and “I’m waiting to hear back from the landlord” – I strongly suspect they have not even bothered to ask. We did expect that the issue which could cause actual damage to the property might be taken care of, but apparently not.
Thus we have been unable to open any of the doors to get a breeze through the house, we had to put the dryer in the garage because it was making such a mess with fluff in the laundry, and we have one light which we cannot use at all.
We became people who just did the things we wanted instead of asking them because we could not get any answers – we installed an air conditioner without their knowledge. We found ourselves in a bad relationship when we’d been so lucky in the past with our landlords.
I am looking forward to getting out of this place so I can write a letter to the manager of the real estate company and tell them how utterly disgusted I am with their service – and that I would never rent from them again, I’ll be advising anyone I know never to rent with them, and as far as buying a house? NO WAY. If it were perfect and had everything we wanted, we would not touch it if their name was on it.
I thought I would share a couple of pics of the new place with you today. I did not take these myself, sorry for the not brilliant quality.
I’m in major overdrive mode here at the moment – I have been replying to comments like a demon today so if you left one (River in particular – please send me your email address!) remember to check back and see my reply to it. :)
I’d like to ask my readers to please forgive me if I’m not replying to comments you’ve made over the next couple of weeks. I am going to try and do it as much as I can but things will be crazy. I will still be reading them and appreciating them just as much as I always do, but I have boxes to pack as well.. ;)
If this post did inspire you to compliment a company for their good customer service, let a company know about bad customer service or write an email about a product you love, please comment and let me know! ;)
I hope everything works out with the new house…it’s annoying waiting around for real estate people to fix things. Our shower is a perfect example – it took them over SIX MONTHS to fix it since we first reported it as an URGENT fix. There is still water stains on the ceiling and the garage roof is still falling apart (in fact, it’s started falling onto the car!). We’re still waiting to hear back about getting it painted … and I suspect it will take some time.
We don’t have a screen door either and we’ve mentioned a few times to each other that it would be nice to have one so we could have the wooden door open and get a breeze, so maybe we should ask the real estate people to look into that – although I’m not convinced it will be done quickly, going off their past actions. Gosh I can’t wait to buy!
About the customer service thing – last night a woman phoned my work and asked for one of our employee’s last name so she could write a letter of appreciation to say thankyou for the employee going out of her way to accomodate her needs. I’m used to only getting complaints through the office, so hearing this was truly a nice thing – it’s been a while since people actually wanted to say thankyou – they usually take things for granted and only get in touch to complain.
So I’m going to take up your offer and contact some of the companies that have done well by me, and thank them. Good post, once again! ;) (And once again, a long comment…sorry! hehe)
Hi,
Great post. There’s a company I’ve been meaning to contact about a product most helpful to me – you’ve reminded and inspired me to get on and do it.
By the way – found your blog via a comment you left on Kin’s blog. :-)
Yes,
I thank the companies I do business with. I’ve been doing that for years. The even extends to what I do on the computer. If I like software I thank the developer and I always thank the fabulous people behind the WordPress plugs ins that I use.
It’s important to acknowledge everyone, and I even do that on my blog. About once every few months, I thank my readers for being my readers.
It’s great that you showed your appreciation.
First, the pics of your new place are lovely. I really enjoy moving and finding homes for all my things.
Second, I’ve read your comments on Chani’s blog and I also love watching home reno shows, but not for the cute guys. No, I watch for the houses. I’ve got a real thing about houses. I often have dreams where I’m living in a house which I’ve never seen before. Perhaps I was an architect in a past life?
Third my email address.I would appreciate it if this did not appear on the comments page.
Forgot to mention, I have in the past sent emails or letters to companies praising their products or services and have been occasionally rewarded with free samples. Ditto with poor products or service, and still received free samples along with an apology.
The new place looks great!!
I do compliment or complain, aka provide feedback.
I GREATLY appreciate places that clearly value this by calling me with a survey, emailing with me links to feedback forms, or offering it prominently on the company Web site.
I guarantee those are the places most likely to get my feedback.
Julie
Ravin’ Picture Maven
The place looks great and should put you in a much better state of mind generally. Good customer service does that too, so you’re on a roll.
Cugat
When we moved from DC back to Florida, some really nice TSA officials agreed to let us have a private security screening in a closed room so we would not have to be taken out of our carriers to go through the metal detectors, and possibly escape into the airport. We sent an e-mail thanking them for the extra service. We hope that will make it easier for other cats to travel.
Looks great – and a little kindness goes a long way.
I have a bit of a bizarre customer service story. I had bought a boxset of dvds online and they were mailed out to me locked. I posted a huge rant on my blog whining about it all, and because I used the company name? One of the execs found it, emailed me and organised to get me a $20 voucher. How’s that for service?
Of course, feeling slightly guilty, I wrote a follow up blog post to express my thanks. I think they’re still around – you can search for EzyDVD sometime if you’re so inclined!
Thats right. Only such good words encourage people to deliver good service. I do compliment a good service all the times – i learnt recently.
Katie – there is nothing worse than real estate people who never do anything. I have the landlords name, and I intend on writing a letter to them to let them know how bad our experience was too. I don’t think landlords have any idea – they just want someone else to handle it.
It’s such a lovely feeling to send these complimentary emails, and I have even been asked to participate in surveys for the company, and I have been sent items from them too, free cookbooks, packets of seasoning in the mail. :)
Lightening – Thanks for dropping by! I loved your blog. It’s great when new people comment because I get to explore their blogs. ;)
Opal – It is something I’ve been doing for a little while now, and I like it so much I’m going to keep doing it. ;)
River – I also love the houses, the men are a nice bonus. Thanks for emailing me with your email address ;) And well done on the free samples – that’s a great side benefit people don’t usually think of. ;)
Julie – It’s a smart thing for a company to do, but it is rare for them to actually get any replies. I always fill them out in hotels now, and Ford sent us some great surveys too. ;) Believe me they’re going to get great feedback because we’re crazy about the car.
Cugat – I think it’s the lifestyle change, mostly the walking, that I am looking forward to. Since we moved here we haven’t done much walking at all. We used to be at the zoo every weekend, and the botanic gardens.. I really miss that.
Daisy – my kitties were so scared when they travelled on a plane! It is friendly that they looked after you so well. :)
Alynda – they were locked? I’ll have to look back and find that post. ;)
Most companies use google alerts, so whenever their name is mentioned they hear about it. ;) How nice of them to send you a voucher! They have some serious competition with JB Hifi these days, so they have to take care of their customers.
Thiru – good on you for doing it ;) I agree that good words = good service. ;)
Thanks for the comments all!
Snoskred
http://www.snoskred.org/