No Show

With all of the focus on the importance of managing customer relationships, I always find it odd when even the most basic of promises are broken.

We had arranged to meet with several companies this week to review our heating and cooling requirements for our home. And if you are a homeowner, you know that replacing an air conditioner and a furnance is an expensive undertaking. It requires a site visit to correctly determine the appropriate configuration and it requires consultation in terms of reviewing product alternatives and potential solutions.

We contacted a local company in our community. We made an appointment that was convenient for this company. Like most families, our time at home is valued. To make time available to this company meant that time was not available for other family activities.

We had supper. We cleaned up the kitchen. We waited for the folks from this company to show up. We waited. And waited.

They did not show. They did not call. And, as far as I am concerned, they did not care.

And by failing to honour the most basic promise of meeting at a specific time, we will not give them another meeting. If this is how they handle prospects at the beginning of the sales cycle, it does not bode well for how they might handle customers in the service and support cycle.

I thought about basic, common courtesy. If the company was unable to show up for a meeting that they scheduled, a simple telephone call would have been sufficient. Something along the lines of “We’re sorry. We are not able to get to your home this evening. Would it be possible to reschedule to another time?”