I had the strangest experience today. I received a call from the company I buy my miscellaneous medical supplies from. They called me to let me know they had been bought by another company and could no longer take orders or dispense supplies.

Please understand… this company is now out of business and can no longer make money from me. They are packing their inventory for the new company to pick up and downloading customer data for the new owners.

Yet someone still bothered to call their regular clients to let them know there was a change right now. They did not wait for the transfer at the end of the week when, in theory, the acquiring company would start contacting their clients. Someone took the initiative to contact us now so we would not be surprised (or try to go to their locked shop). Talk about customer service!

It made me stop and think about how I have communicated changes to my customers in the past. Honestly I usually communicate after the fact. I had not really considered how empowering prior knowledge can be. Most of my changes have been unexpected and surprised even me, but I have other planned changes that I can be more proactive with.

Take some time to examine how you are communicating changes. Are you posting weather closures on your social media? Do you announce them on your voice mail? Create a policy for different types of changes and let your customers know your policies.

And if you are ever planning on selling your business, consider my now-defunct medical supply company and make sure you leave your customers with a great experience so they will remember you fondly.

Until next time…

Have a great day,
Susanne


​If you are ready to dive into the world of social media… Social Media 101 is Perfect for You. Click here to find out more.

Yesterday morning I woke up to my house heater making all the wrong sounds. It went click, click, whoosh again and again and never actually stayed ignited or started blowing.

As I lay there in my bed remembering the last time I heard that noise it cost me about $500, I was actually hoping it would only cost me $500 and not be the final death knell for my very old heater which I have been patching up for the past three years.

It is my own fault. I intended to replace it last summer when I use the house heater much less than in the winter. (I still use it in the summer; however I turn it down to 65.) I let life get in the way and never made arrangements so if I have to actually burn a fire in my unused-for-nine-years fireplace because my heater needs to be replaced I can only blame my own procrastination.

When I got up I called the furnace company who has been helping me stretch the last three years out of my heater and got a return call from the technician on call. He let me know that the day was considered a holiday and it would cost me 25% more to have him come out. I told him I understood and would pay the higher fee.

He then reiterated that if I could just wait 24 hours I could save that 25%. I told him I would rather know I would be warm than save money. He laughed and told me he would come after he finished the call he was on. I appreciate his attempt to save me money and am still hoping my heater lasts until July.

I was also recently presented with an ethical issue in my own business last month. One of my clients called me to check what my prices would be in 2017 because she knew I had raised my prices since she started with me the year before. I quickly told her that I guarantee my price for three years for active clients even though she remembered it as only one year.

She would have been happy to pay my current rate and did not remember I had told her she got her signing rate for three years the year before. But I get to see her at events and not be thinking I am stealing her money every time I see her.

How do you show your integrity?


Until next time…

Have a great day,
Susanne


​If you are ready to dive into the world of social media… Social Media 101 is Perfect for You. Click here to find out more.