Act 1 – Sprinkler Repair Guy
We’ve only worked with him a couple of times, but it was a no brainer to give him a call when our sprinklers weren’t working because A) he helped us before, and B) literally everyone in town recommends him.
He’s here for maybe half an hour and everything is back up and running, or so I think, but after I pay him and he leaves, I run through the system again and notice that there are two heads that still aren’t working.
I try to call him back, but no answer, so I text and ask if he can swing back by to fix the other two heads.
Highly recommended sprinkler repair guy finally responds and says, “Give me a call in a few weeks and I’ll fit you in.”
No. No, I won’t. You didn’t finish the job I just paid you to do. You were great at most of the work that you did, but after this I’ll never contact you again.
Act 2 – In-Home Therapists
It’s no secret that we’ve hired several people over the years to help the kids with behaviors stemming from their autism. For the most part, both of them have been pretty successful with the therapy, however every now and then we find ourselves working with someone who just doesn’t quite click.
Right now we’re not clicking because apparently some of the therapists have complained that our house is “an untherapeutic environment” for them to provide their services.
We’ve been with this company for two years now and paid them enough money to buy this house that they’re not happy in, but instead of trying to work with us through these issues, they’re basically threatening to quit because our house isn’t clean enough for them.
And that’s fine.
If they’re not comfortable working in my home, then I don’t want them working here, either, and there are plenty of other providers for us to shop around to if we need to find someone less judgmental and more understanding of a family trying to raise kids with special needs.
I feel like if that’s literally your job, you should already be pretty compassionate in that department, but I digress.
Finale
The morale of today’s rant is simple – never stop appreciating your customers, even if you’re really busy and even if you’re really frustrated with them because customers are a lot easier to lose than they are to find.