What Quality Looks Like
This week I had the opportunity to tour some of our properties in the Atlanta area and to meet a couple of key clients. The experience left me feeling very good about the attention to detail and the pride that our crews demonstrate through their daily work. Despite a long, wet summer our properties show what quality looks like. Long-term success begins here.
Upon returning home, I had a personal experience that stood in stark contrast to what I saw in Atlanta. I’m in the process of moving, after raising a family in the home we’ve lived in for the past 20 plus years. Part of this involves arranging utilities for our new home.
For some reason, I selected AT&T as the provider for our bundled phone, internet and television service. After a series of scheduling fiascos, today was the day for completing the final installation. Pictured alongside this article was the technician’s idea of a completed installation…. Seriously! This is most definitely not what quality looks like. (It’s the landscape equivalent of quickly mowing the grass, but leaving all of the clippings on the hardscape and in the beds, while walking right past a trophy weed along the main walk to the client’s office!)
The television did work, but that’s about the only positive thing I can say about the experience. The technician showed up unprepared with all of the components that had been ordered, but mostly he showed up unmotivated. He simply did not care, as evidenced by what he said, what he didn’t say, through his body language and mostly by what he didn’t do to properly finish the job. The technology may work, but that is in spite of how it was delivered.
These contrasting experiences highlight three essential ingredients to delivering a quality customer experience:
1. Truly Care.
2. Finish the job that’s started.
3. Step back and view the finished product through the customer’s eyes.
Customer loyalty ultimately depends upon these critical things. Without them, they’re simply waiting for something better to come along and take your place.
Upon returning home, I had a personal experience that stood in stark contrast to what I saw in Atlanta. I’m in the process of moving, after raising a family in the home we’ve lived in for the past 20 plus years. Part of this involves arranging utilities for our new home.
For some reason, I selected AT&T as the provider for our bundled phone, internet and television service. After a series of scheduling fiascos, today was the day for completing the final installation. Pictured alongside this article was the technician’s idea of a completed installation…. Seriously! This is most definitely not what quality looks like. (It’s the landscape equivalent of quickly mowing the grass, but leaving all of the clippings on the hardscape and in the beds, while walking right past a trophy weed along the main walk to the client’s office!)
The television did work, but that’s about the only positive thing I can say about the experience. The technician showed up unprepared with all of the components that had been ordered, but mostly he showed up unmotivated. He simply did not care, as evidenced by what he said, what he didn’t say, through his body language and mostly by what he didn’t do to properly finish the job. The technology may work, but that is in spite of how it was delivered.
These contrasting experiences highlight three essential ingredients to delivering a quality customer experience:
1. Truly Care.
2. Finish the job that’s started.
3. Step back and view the finished product through the customer’s eyes.
Customer loyalty ultimately depends upon these critical things. Without them, they’re simply waiting for something better to come along and take your place.
