This week I was in London on a business trip. One day we had some spare time in the evening and we took an outing. While we were almost back to the hotel someone proposed to have a beer in local pub. It was after 11 pm so we weren’t sure if they’d sell us the beer. They did. Almost.
After the first pint appeared on the counter bell rang (in Britain that’s the signal the bar is closed) and guy refused to pour another couple for my colleagues. He sent me to the manager to do the talking. Unfortunately, the manager wasn’t helpful. I understood that she wasn’t allowed to sell the beer after 11:30 pm. That’s OK. I understood that she wouldn’t break the law just to make us content. That’s perfectly OK. However, as we went to the pub we didn’t want to buy three separate services with a beer in each. We wanted to have the beer for every of us, sit there and chat for half an hour and then say “thanks, bye”. What should we do with a single gloomy pint? Share it among us? Or maybe I should stay there alone for a half an hour and let my colleagues go to the hotel? Oh, I know, they should look as I was enjoying my drink.
Still, I don’t complain on the fact the manager refused to sell us another two pints. The fact I do complain on is that she refused to give the money back and let us leave. I know they would have to throw away this beer, but I think the customer satisfaction is worth these 3 pounds I wanted to get back. Now they have those darn 3 pounds and me spreading my opinion about their poor service and lack of understanding of customers’ needs. Is that really a fair deal?
I think the software vendors are often put in a situation the pub manager had with us. We support our buggy software, we deal with customers’ rants and we decide how we act in uncertain situations. We choose between selling another couple of beers, giving the money back and refusing to cooperate everyday. And we forget that it’s not about a beer (or software) but it’s all about customer satisfaction.
Think about your 3 pounds another time while resolving an issue which isn’t really your fault. I don’t say you should always do exactly what customer expects. Just think about consequences. If the manager would give my money back it’s a 3-pound investment made by pub. If the situation could potentially happen every 10 minutes the investment could grow into 15 thousand pounds yearly. I wouldn’t go that way. But if you asked the manager how often the situation had happened in the past she’d say that maybe twice a year, I guess. 6 pounds, oh, let me be generous, 10 pounds is not something they care about in their yearly balance.
When the issue is actually a fault of the customer, don’t be blind. Maybe when you help them you can earn their gratitude, improve perception of your company and count on their help in future. Attach information that you do it because you’re cool, they’re important, that’s especially and only for them and it’s the last time you do it (you can lie here if you want). I’d have been more than happy if the manager had given the money back and had said it had been for me only.
On the other hand, it can be really a pain in the ass when you run errands for the customer with every single, real or imaginary, issue they submitted. “You entered wrong data. I see. Let us correct them in the database while your users wait and enjoy their coffee – we don’t want to force them to learn how to use the software. It would be inhuman or something. Oh, you don’t have coffee for the users. Let us order the coffee for you from the nearest café then.” Sure, the customer will be delighted but I’m not sure if they paid you for this kind of service.
If you find it hard to take a decision if the particular issue will be submitted once per year or once per hour you can always take the first one on you. If your answer is wise it’s more than just a resolution – it’s also a lesson to learn. After the pub adventure I learnt I have to be careful when ordering a beer in the pub after 11 pm while I’m in Britain. And I learned which pub I shall omit in the future.
When a single decision costs you much it’s more difficult case. When the question is if you buy a server on your cost, it’s harder to use “do it only for the first time” approach, but that’s different case. You’ll find this kind of issues much less often than 3-pound decisions. What more, usually this kind of costly resolutions are well-thought. You deal with a lot of money, so it’s natural. However, we forget that we often loose our image not on big things like that, but on everyday 3-pounders we don’t want to think about for more than a second.
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