Reading time – 39 seconds . . .
The furnace for the house addition conked out and I scheduled service with a new contractor. When the service guy was 45 minutes late I phoned and was told that a prior service call had run longer than expected – sorry. There was no advance courtesy call from the dispatcher to let me know what was going on. Just “sorry” when I called them. The service guy showed up over an hour late.
After the service guy’s inspection we talked about options and agreed that he would have his boss, the owner of the company, call to set a date to meet and talk about the best course of action. Just like his dispatcher, the boss didn’t call.
At last I called him. He told me he had been really busy – sorry. I decided to just have them order a replacement part, rather than examine other options. A few days later his scheduler called saying they had the needed part and we agreed on a date for service when mine would be the first call of the day and not subject to something else taking more time than forecast.
Half an hour past when the contractor was due to arrive I phoned their office and was told that an emergency no-heat call had come in and the service guy was there. Again, there had been no advance courtesy call. They weren’t sure what time he’d arrive at my house – sorry.
I told them the same thing you would say to an unreliable supplier: I can’t do business with you – sorry.
We human beings always emulate the leader and that is exactly what the employees of that company are doing. The boss showed no respect and blew me off. Perhaps that’s his regular M.O. In consequence, he trained his people with his actions to do exactly the same thing and they learned well.
The point is that when you are the leader the people who look to you for leadership are always watching and they will emulate you. So, make sure your own behavior is what you want from them.
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