The Pedestal Group

I’ve had an interesting couple of weeks trying to get a project wrapped up for a client.  We need some things professionally printed.  They aren’t complicated, but we were hoping for around 100-200 pieces and we need to get a proof to my client before he can sign off on doing it.  I used to work in a publications office and that was pretty standard back then – can’t imagine it is so different now.  I contacted a printer I’ve used before and I really like him.  Except after discussing the projects and promising a quote, he’s disappeared off the face of the earth. Can’t get him to answer phone calls or emails. Just gone.  Okay, no big deal, right?

SEVEN printers later, I have two quotes. One came with two sentences of “we’re here in the mornings to talk about this” and the other doesn’t even have any text on the email!  And worse?  One of them sent me a note back the first time around telling me why they couldn’t take on the project (too small of a quantity, etc.).  I had to write back additional questions to get them to consider the job!  Four of the others didn’t return phone calls or emails and the fifth one was very service-oriented, but was three dollars a piece higher than is in the budget. So now I will take my business to the people that at least have some information in their email, but I am left feeling extremely unhappy with the whole experience and will continue looking for a good printer.

Can you imagine your customers feeling like this?  I’ll bet big money the owners of these print shops have no idea this is what I’ve gone through.  I’m confident they are all (most) nice people who care about their businesses.  I am hoping nothing bad happened to the first one!  But, at the end of the day, six printers will lose business because I couldn’t get them to do their jobs.  It has been said before, but obviously could do with repeating:

Respond to people – if you are not going to be in the office, set up an out-of-office message and TEST IT.
Every communication with a customer or prospect is a marketing piece – be sure you represent yourself well at all times.
When sending quotes or contracts, keep in mind this is an email that will be saved so make sure you put some context into the email itself.
Talk about what you CAN do.  Can’t run 100 pieces?  Tell the prospect you can run 250 and 100 is not in their best interest due to the high cost.
Follow up.  Not one single company has followed up on their information. It was left to me to handle.

Don’t make things hard for customers because they won’t do business with you.  Instead, make it easy because service is everything!

We all have customers we love – I’m happy to say that is just about all of mine.  But one customer impresses me every time I walk into their office.  Hunter Insurance has been in the Medina OH area selling insurance since 1962.  From them I have learned a great deal about insurance, but also about what customer service really means.

First, Hunter is a group of independent insurance agents.  That means they represent multiple products and do the shopping around for you.  They can offer a wider array of options than agents tied to one company and can really understand how the different discounts, programs and options from each carrier can work for you.

Second, the people who work at Hunter are awesome.  Whether they have been there 1 year or 40, they all truly care about the customers and talk about them as individuals.  I got to work with one woman recently who, when looking at a 900 person customer list, was  talking about things that needed to be adjusted by individual.  It was impressive.

So all that is great, but my biggest surprise was when I recently went to a part of the office I hadn’t been in before.  Often companies talk about their commitment to customer service.  But in this office, the President’s office is on the far side of customer service.  To get to him you have to walk through the service team.  To be in his office you hear the customer service team helping customers.  And the best part?  When I said something about it, at first the president didn’t seem to know what I meant. It was so natural for him he just said, “I need to know what’s going on”.

As someone who supervised customer service departments before, I can tell you the single best way to find out what your customers are talking about is to hang out in the department.  You will hear one side of the conversations, the discussions after the calls, and see where the customer support team needs help.  In this case, Warren can’t help but know what is going on and that is a real show of commitment.

Many companies talk about valuing their clients, but at Hunter Insurance it is not only reflected in what they do, but even down to where they sit.  Very impressive!

There are lots and lots of companies out there that you can complain about, but it seems like we need to do more to celebrate the ones that get it right. In the recruiting world there is a software company called MaxHire.  Their software helps companies manage sales relationships, create email campaigns, manage open positions, candidates, interviews and placements.  It is a solid system that a new user can pick up quickly and an established user can find new ways to be more efficient all the time.  And while the product is great, it isn’t the product I’m excited about today.

The thing that is impressive about MaxHire is their commitment to their customers.  I am so impressed, over and over again, by their commitment to finding solutions even when the situation is out of the ordinary.  They have also worked incredibly hard to find partners their customers really need.  They have added several recently and more are on the way that get right at the heart of what their clients do and make their lives easier.  That is exactly what you want to see from a company!

So I wanted to celebrate this company for a moment and recommend you find those organizations you would like to celebrate.  Who is doing it right?