I was at a meeting today and someone shared a story about an experience they had with a car dealer. He was looking for a car with a few specifics he really wanted to have so he went on the website and a little chat window popped up, asking if they could help. Since the gentleman knew the exact things he was looking for, he took the bait and said sure. He entered his criteria and the virtual helper said, “One moment please while I check our inventory.” Sure enough, a few minutes later, she came back and told him there were 2 cars that fit his criteria at a local dealership.

The guy knew the dealership so when the virtual helper asked if he wanted to make an appointment, he said sure, 10:00AM on Saturday. He eagerly went to the dealership that Saturday, and was surprised that they didn’t have the appointment scheduled. He explained that he made the appointment online, etc. They showed him into a Salesperson’s office who proceeded to ask him the same questions he had already answered online and then he said he would be right back.

When he returned, he said, “You’re never going to believe this, but we just sold those 2 cars.” We’re never going to believe it? Of course we believe it, because we have gotten so used to poor service and not getting what we expected.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Just tell me the truth. And if you don’t know, tell me that. It’s ok. I think as service professionals we need to do everything in our power to meet the expectations of the people who depend on us. That means don’t promise things you can’t deliver. It makes people mad, and it creates a reputation of being unreliable. People won’t trust you.

Now this salesperson may have thought he was doing the right thing by making up a story so the customer would not feel misled, but people aren’t stupid. After all, he wasn’t the one who started it. Assuming this was not a deliberate rouse to get the guy in to the dealership, but rather a marketing strategy gone wrong; this was a simple system failure. Why not just say that? This salesperson would have had a lot more credibility if he was honest. And he might have made the sale at a later date.

Same thing with service technicians; it’s also your job to see where the system failed and let your company or the boss know. It’s not good enough to say it’s not your fault. Find out where things went wrong and see if you can help, even if you were not the one to make the promise.

 

This blog was originally posted at: http://iamtechnation.com/abbe/isnt-a-promise-a-promise/