Holding Yourself to High Standards

Two years ago I caused quite a stir at my apartment complex. I was having a disagreement with the Assistant Community Director over what I owed for rent and utilities. Six weeks later – she was fired.

Photo Credit: liber

Did I get her fired? Well – yes, but it was her previous behavior AND my ongoing feedback with her boss that ultimately resulted in her being asked to leave.

Holding yourself to high standards is more important than most people realize.

Integrity Matters

Over the last few years I have been in the middle of more than a dozen atrocious customer service experiences. There are two reasons for this:

1. I hold myself to high standards, which ultimately results in me holding others accountable to a high standards as well.
2. When I believe someone has made a mistake that negatively affects me, I am very vocal.

Integrity is the most important characteristic in your pursuit of success and the accomplishment of big goals. Why? Because integrity is doing what you said you were going to do. It is your word – your bond – your reputation.

Sure, you could swindle someone out of money in a quick scheme, but the most successful people build long-term relationships based on honesty, trust, and bullet-proof integrity.

If a person makes a promise to me, I hold them accountable for that promise. This is why I am likely to experience many more customer service issues in the future. I don’t back down.

Communication Matters

Here’s another example from a recent true story. I bought the domain name, JeffSanders.com, from BuyDomains.com. It was rather expensive. I paid more than $600 for it.

The email confirmation of my purchase claimed that I would receive the domain transfer instructions via email within 10 business days. 10 days later – no email.

I called. I emailed them. I called again. I emailed again. Days later, the instructions finally arrived. The process was annoying, tedious, and ultimately an example of poor communication, poor integrity, and lazy customer service.

Remember that I paid hundreds of dollars for my product, and many of their customers pay thousands, and even tens of thousands of dollars for a premier domain name.

Can you imagine paying that much money for a product and then never receiving it?

What could have solved ALL of these issues? Integrity and communication.

Had the company followed through on their promise to deliver the initial email within 10 days – there would have been no issue.

Had the company contacted me ahead of time to let me know the email would be arriving late – there would have been no issue.

Had the company sent the email to me after my first phone call – there would have been no issue.

Unfortunately, none of these things happened. The company failed to deliver on their promise, failed to contact me, failed to response quickly after I contacted them, and then failed to apologize quickly after they botched the whole thing.

Communication would have solved ALL of these problems.

I would have been understanding and more patient if I knew what was going on. I would have been happy to wait longer. The company set the expectation and then failed to meet their own promise.

How Integrity and Communication Affect Your Goals

So, what does customer service have to do with accomplishing your goals? Simple – everything. Most goals, especially the big ones, will involve other people.

You could call them customers, co-workers, friends, or partners – it doesn’t really matter. How you treat other people, no matter who they are, is customer service.

Your relationships with others are likely to be the backbone of your current and future successes. We’re not on this planet alone and we likely won’t get what we want without others.

The way to treat and respond to other people affects your progress.

Let’s use the example of the founder of BuyDomains.com (the company I just berated). I’m guessing that he or she had a vision to build a prosperous company. That’s quite a lofty goal.

I’m also guessing that the founder doesn’t like people like me writing about terrible customer service experiences online. If the founder ever reads this post, it will be a low moment. No one likes to fail.

The good news is that you can prevent failure AND accomplish your goals while maintaining a stellar reputation in the process.

How? Integrity and communication.

In other words, do what you said you were going to do. If you can’t, tell the other person. That’s it. It’s not more complicated than that.

Here’s the feedback I sent BuyDomains.com

Hi Neil,

Thanks for sending the email. FYI, it was a hassle to get this email sent to me and it never should have been. As the VP of Customer Service, you should know that I was told I would receive these instructions within 10 business days and I had to call twice and send 3 different emails until I got it.

This is poor customer service. This process should be automated. I now have no intention of using your company in the future.

I hope this feedback is helpful so you can serve your future customers better.

– Jeff Sanders

Every 24 Hours

I respond to every single email within 24 hours.

I would never offer this level of service to my customers if I could not deliver. I would never build a positive reputation if I ignored your emails.

I hold myself to the same standard that I hold others to.

Respond Quickly & Be Nice

There is nothing better you can do in the world of customer service (aka – goal accomplishment) than to respond quickly. No one wants an apology – they want you to do your job.

If you hold yourself accountable to meeting deadlines and communicate effectively throughout the process – I promise you – everyone will be happy.