Sloppy business

You know the type - the businesses where they have an almost blatant disregard for their customer and their needs.

Until recently I had experienced this typically with:

• Tradespeople (not turning up on time or at all; not cleaning up after themselves)
• Doctors (particularly GPs who double/triple book patients and have the hide to keep you waiting for extensive periods of time because of the overbooking)

And now I have uncovered another type of business where customer’ needs and expectations clearly fall a long way down the priority list.

What is it you ask?

• Furniture removalists

Let me be clear, not all tradespeople, doctors or furniture removalists are this way (a great opportunity for those that run businesses in those industries to separate themselves from the “pack” and reap the financial and other benefits).

Yet, it has been my experience that in these industries there is almost a culture (a way of doing things) that we as customers have accepted with little or no protest.

Given the current economic cycle we have the opportunity to vote with our feet and our wallets, and I would encourage you to do so. Do not accept poor, slack or sloppy business practices.

Let me recount a story to bring things into focus.

Recently I had need of a furniture removalist. We contacted a local firm and arranged for them to come and appraise what needed moving.  The appointed time came and went.  There was no phone call in explanation, that day or any subsequent day.  

Being understanding individuals we thought let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.  We needed a roll of butcher’s paper for packing purposes so we went and bought it through them and casually mentioned that no one had turned up at our appointment time.  Not only was the receptionist unaware that “someone had not turned up”, there was also no genuine apology, just a mumbling about him being double booked. Hmmmm.

This confirmed it. We wrote them off as a business we would not want to deal with. 

So next we rang another local firm and booked an appointment.  The company representative arrived on time and reviewed what needed moving. So far so good - but then it all went down hill from there.

The quotation did not arrive at the appointed time as promised. We had to ring them to follow up.  When it came it was less than clear and required yet another phone call to gain clarification.  In the end we wrote them off as well.

We searched out a third removalist, thinking that there must be someone who can deliver what is promised.

My wife, Reina spoke with a friendly man at this firm who requested we send back a completed inventory form from their website and they would come back to us.  We duly did so and subsequently received a quote back that was much higher than expected. I rang to query how they had come at their figure and was advised they would have another look at the pricing and get back to us. 

Well, you guessed it. No return phone call. We followed up and were advised that they would have a look and call back (clearly nothing had been done yet).  Eventually we received a call with a quote that was still 30 per cent higher than the next highest quote we had received.

Now an important point to make here is that Reina and I were not price shopping.  We were looking for a furniture removalist that did what they said they would do, when they said they would do it.  We were not looking for the cheapest yet we did want to understand what the differences in the price meant for us.

After all, if the company cannot arrange for the appraisal or quote to be done on time and professionally what level of confidence could we have that using them for the removal job would be a satisfying experience?

That’s right, we could have zero confidence . . . so we kept looking.

We contacted another firm and explained our situation, explaining we were serious buyers not tyre kickers, and were promised that someone would be around the next day or the day after at the latest, and that someone would phone back to confirm a mutually convenient time THAT afternoon.

Surprise, surprise; no phone call. Next day I rang to follow up and was again promised it was under control and that someone would contact me that day. (And no it did not happen).

On the third day the receptionist of this firm rang me to enquire if an appointment had been booked with us (imagine my surprise that they did not know what was happening in their own firm) and I said no. Hours later the business owner called to book an appointment and we settled on 4pm that day.

This process had taken three days so far and still I was no closer to booking a removalist for a straightforward job.

So, on day two of the saga above, I called Mitchell’s Removals in Kiama, who have been established since 1949, and spoke with Wendy.  I explained what I was looking for and Wendy agreed to come out the next day in the morning.

And … at the appointed time Wendy arrived and did her thing.  She promised she would ring me that afternoon with a quote and then send through a written quote via email. 

Then even better - she did what she said she would do!

I accepted the quote immediately and the job is now booked.

When I last spoke with Wendy I mentioned the lack lustre service I had received from other companies and she said to me, “Yes I know we hear it all the time.”

What a great opportunity for Mitchell’s Removals (and Wendy). Keep up the good work!

By the way, if you know someone who is looking for a removalist then do them a favour and refer them to Wendy at Mitchell’s Removals – it will save you time and avoid disappointment and you will get to deal with genuine professionals.

Now there is a postscript to this story. The 4pm appointment mentioned above came and went. But at 4:13pm Wendy from Mitchell’s called me. I accepted the quote immediately.  I then rang the other company to advise them that the owner no longer needed to come out and was advised he was on his way. I told the receptionist it was too late he was already 2 days and 15 minutes late and as a result I had accepted another quote.

Clearly the outcome could have been a whole lot different for this firm had they not been sloppy with their appointments.

What about your business (or if you are an employee the business you work for)?  Are there areas of “sloppy practices” within the business that are costing you profit? You cannot afford to have sloppy business practices in these tough times.

Why not enquire about our comprehensive Business Analysis. It comes with a no risk guarantee to make it a “no brainer” for you.  

The benefits to you are that it will identify, locate and plan the retrieval of untapped NET PROFIT from within your business.  Conditions apply.  You must turn over at least $750,000 p.a. and have a minimum of 4 staff.