A few months ago, I began getting calls and voice messages from people who could not use a gift card they'd received. These were different from our website's Tremendous Leadership gift card, as I would have seen them come through our e-commerce site. I also started getting numerous queries about settlements from people looking for their payout. Oh boy, now I know there’s a problem. At first, it was a call once a week, and when it built up to five or more calls a day, I realized I had to figure out what was happening.
There's another company out there with Tremendous in their name as well; however, their customers do not feel and experience the same level of tremendousness you all do. After researching what was happening, I did locate the company in question, trying to find a way to alert them that many people were upset and unable to contact them successfully.
And guess what? There was only an automated chatbot. I had to do a Google search and look for reviews to find out their help desk email. I had to go onto the Better Business Bureau site to find their phone number. I know how to do this because I live online and am a researcher. But what about everybody else? That company is alienating its customers and costing me time and money.
So what’s a business owner to do? Scream? Sue? Slam the phone down? That would be downright anti-TREMENDOUS.
In every adversity lay the seeds of a victory of equal or greater value. So let's go and find it! Here is how I turned that frown upside down with some tremendous epiphanies.
We are ranking on Google! When I asked the people who called how they found us, they said, ”Google!” Nice! And I’m not even paying for placement or ad words!
I got to talk to many people and try to help them out! Rather than get irritated and tell people they've got the wrong Tremendous, I let them talk. I heard their story of what they were getting money for or from. We often had a lovely conversation, and I gave them as much information as possible to help them resolve their issue. Now I know I was using my time to help people who were not paying me. But sometimes, we need to engage in the Business of Life rather than just the Business of the Bottom Line.
You never know when they might come back to hire me to speak, publish or buy a book! After we finished talking, I let them know if they ever did get that money on their card or from the settlement, to please come back and purchase some tremendous books! And who knows, some may even want to write and publish a tremendous book with us! Life is all about connections, and I wonder when and where I might reconnect with any of these people.
Don’t be too stressed out about technology replacing humans because people still NEED to be able to talk to people. The website did have a chatbot and emailed the customer. However, this could have been more effective in resolving their issues. Customers complained that the responses were canned and did not answer their particular questions. In addition, their website needed a phone number, further adding to the frustration. I'm all for technology and AI. I'll be the first one to the self-check-out kiosk at the grocery store or the self-check-in kiosk at the airport. But you MUST have a way for people to talk to people. Only some problems are solved by a pull-down menu.
Final thoughts: Sometimes, you'll have to deal with things you shouldn't have to deal with. But more people doing the right thing will offset people doing the wrong thing, putting the whole world back into a tremendous balance!
