Thanks for your interest; now we will just ignore you.
You know that itch that just won’t go away. Well, I have an area in my front yard that just won’t go green. This spot has been plaguing me for years. It’s been resodded, raked, dug, fertilized, and watered enough to make any green thumb proud. Alas, after a few months, the same sod area withers, crumbles, and dies. This episode has been repeated three times with the same result: dead grass.
After staring at a dead spot of grass in my front yard for months, I finally decided to call in the professionals. Perhaps they have a secret recipe that will fix this eyesore.
Being the ‘techie guy’, I sent an e-mail to a local gardening professional for an estimate. I’ve been spoiled by Amazon.com, so I expected an auto-confirm message: ‘thank you for your business; we’ll be in touch’. Sadly, no such message came.
A few days went by with no phone call or e-mail. Finally, a week later, an e-mail arrived telling me to call a gentleman to set up an appointment.
I called the gentleman and here’s how the conversation went:
Grass Company Man: OK; let me look you up in our system. Can I get your name?
After providing this gentleman with my contact information (AGAIN), I scheduled a time for them to survey my lawn.
A week later, I received a call from the same gentleman about scheduling an appointment. After a number of deep, calming breaths, I told him that we spoke a few days ago and that we already had an appointment scheduled.
I’ll spare this local company the embarrassment in this forum, but (thus far) I’ve hardly been impressed with their attention to detail or focus on the customer.
I’ve a great neighbor who is a gardening whiz; he might get the business. You can always trust a neighbor. Companies sometimes treat us like disposables – and it shouldn’t be this way.
Lesson: I was a ‘very qualified lead’ for this business. Take extreme care to make a remarkable, memorable first impression when someone ‘new’ contacts your business. If this company would have actually remembered me and done a stellar job, I would have been their best salesman. Now, I’ll refer neighbors and friends elsewhere. Word of mouth advertising is here to stay.
Who knows? The appointment might happen soon (fingers crossed). This company could do an ‘about face’ and fix my grass ailment and deliver a unforgettable experience. I am not betting on it.
Until next time,
Dan Naden
