CEO's Column, 4th Quarter, 2011
|
|
|
Chip Emery, CEO |
Bah Humbug – Customer Unsatisfaction Hurts!
A while back we received the ultimate “bad guy” notice: a termination. After several months trying to solve a difficult customer problem, management got tired of waiting and pulled the plug. On our side we were late getting started on a custom application that we thought (and so quoted) would be an easy software fix. Since the mobile computers were already installed and operating, we figured “No problem, we’ll just whip this out and catch up.” Then the ISV whose tools we were using got into its own over commitment problems. Then the customer decided we could not have access to certain key data files and, furthermore, they could not explain their own file structures. Then… well you get the picture. By now its several months past the agreed start time and all sides are working feverishly to resolve the situation. Then the hammer falls.
Been there before? Does it hurt? You betcha! Not only is it wasting valuable technical resources, it’s lost profits, no commissions, an irritated OEM, a troubled ISV relationship, a very unhappy customer who is not going to buy anything from you ever again… all coupled with an ugly feeling of defeat and failure. Bah humbug. It hurts.
So if you thought customer satisfaction was just boring management fluff, things said in passing that really weren’t meaningful, try customer unsatisfaction. Once there you will hate it. Even if you are not driven by altruistic thoughts of the ideal relationship with your customers, it’s their satisfaction where you want to be.
Then you can turn Bah Humbug into Happy Holidays.
