Episode 47: Turn Your Cleaning Mistakes Into A Success Story
How do you handle it when your employees make mistakes while cleaning your accounts? Do you simply fix the mistake and move on? Or do you go above and beyond what is expected to turn your customer into a loyal client?
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Episode #46 - Video Transcription
Lately I've been doing a lot of driving between the Twin Cities and my home town in Wisconsin. So when I leave in the morning I like to treat myself to a Caribou coffee and their delicious lemon bread. On one of my recent trips I decided to go into the store instead of going through the drive-thru. I got my order right away and went out to the car.
But I suddenly realized that I had my bread with me but didn't have my coffee! I thought I must have set it down when I stopped to grab a napkin on my way out the door, but it wasn't there - she never actually never gave me the coffee! So I went up and asked for my coffee and back out the door I went. When I got in the car I took a sip and it was luke-warm - and I hate luke warm coffee!
So back in I went and asked for a hot coffee. The gal who waited on me was so sorry that I had to come back in twice, that she gave me a large coffee instead of the medium that I ordered, and she gave me a coupon for a free coffee for my next trip. Now I could have gotten a little ticked off because she made two mistakes on my order and I had to keep going back in -- but I left happy with how she handled it and have been back many times since.
So what I want to ask YOU is -- how do YOU handle it when your employees make mistakes while cleaning your accounts? Do you go above and beyond to make it right, or do you simply fix the problem and move on? Now I'm not saying that fixing the problem and moving on is wrong, but I AM saying that if you go above and beyond what is expected, you'll make a more lasting impression on your clients, and they may even become more loyal to your business.
There's a quote from Maya Angelou that you might have heard before. It goes like this - "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." I'd like you to think about that when it comes to customer service.
Here's a story that a cleaning business owner told me about. A client that she had for about 3 years called to complain that the breakroom floor had some streaks from the mop and the restroom floors were dirty. She also said that the cleaning staff were using her hand towels and Pinesol. After a little research the cleaning business owner discovered that what the client claimed was true.
Of course she apologized and offered to replace the supplies but the client said don't worry about it. She decided to go ahead and make it up to her and bought a case of hand towels and a gallon of Pinesol. She also burnished the floors that night instead of just mopping them. Well the client was thrilled with the result. In fact she called up the next day to thank her AND asked her to clean all the carpet in the office too.
So, this cleaning business owner learned that a complaint can be turned into a loyal client an even generate an unexpected sale when you respond quickly and go above and beyond what they ever expected. This situation could have gone in a completely different direction had she just told her employees to do a better job of mopping the floors. But because of her desire to make this client happy, she's created a loyal client, and she knows this customer will remember how she made her feel.
So, I'd like to ask you again -- how do YOU handle it when your employees make mistakes while cleaning your accounts? Please share thoughts on this topic by posting your responses below the video at CleaningBiz.tv.
