The Customer Service Crusader
Don’t Lie to Your Customers. They Can Handle the Truth.
My wife and I were recently looking for a painter. We had someone we used in the past and liked, but we had moved, and he no longer covered our area. Pun intended. He did recommend his brother-in-law, who was willing to travel, so we had him come out and look at the job.
The estimate came back way outside the range. Way outside. It felt like one of those if they’re willing to pay this, I’ll make the drive kind of bids. Fair enough. Everyone gets to price their work however they want, but we were not going to move forward with that quote.
Then we received a direct mail piece from another painting company. It said they had painted homes in our area and offered a 15% discount if we mentioned the mailer. I called and scheduled a free estimate.
That is where the customer service lesson begins.
The appointment was set for Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday at 8:00 came and went. No estimator. Then 8:15 came. Still no estimator. Then 8:30 came. Still nothing. No call. No text. No update.
So I called the scheduler and asked what was going on. She put me on hold to find out. After a few minutes, she came back and told me the estimator was sick. That did not sit right.
If someone is sick, things happen. I understand that. But if someone has an 8:00 a.m. appointment and they are sick, someone should call or text before the customer has to chase down the answer.
Still, we rescheduled for the next day with the same estimator. He showed up, and to his credit, he apologized right away.
But then he told me what actually happened. He was not sick. He had looked at the wrong day on his schedule and missed the appointment. That was the real mistake.
And honestly, I would have been fine with that. We all make mistakes. Appointments get mixed up. Calendars get misread. Life happens.
But the scheduler told me he was sick. That changed the situation.
I told him directly that lying to me was unacceptable and that it was a really bad way to start a potential business relationship. If she had simply said he made a mistake and missed the appointment, I would have respected the honesty.
No drama. No problem. Just own it and move forward.
The estimator was clearly embarrassed. He apologized several times. Ultimately, he tried to make it right by adding another 5% off the bid.
From that point on, everything went smoothly. The scheduling was easy. The painting was finished quicker than expected. The quality of the work was terrific.
In the end, they got the job.
But here is the point: they almost lost it before they ever gave me a price. Not because someone made a mistake, but because someone lied about it.
The Customer Service Crusader Lesson
Do not lie to your customers or prospects.
That sounds obvious, but businesses do it all the time. They say someone is running behind when they forgot. They blame the system when no one entered the order. They say they never received the message when it was sitting in someone’s inbox.
They create a story because they think the truth will make them look bad. But usually, the cover-up does more damage than the original mistake.
Most customers can handle the truth. What they cannot handle is feeling like they are being played. If you made a mistake, admit it. Apologize for it. Explain what happened. Then tell the customer what you are going to do to make it right. That is not weakness. That is trust-building.
In this case, the company recovered. The estimator owned the mistake, apologized, and made a gesture to repair the relationship.
The work was excellent, and that helped too. But they were lucky.
If the first estimate had not been so out of line, company number two would have never gotten the job. The lie almost cost them the opportunity.
Final Thought:
Mistakes do not automatically lose customers. Poor communication does. Dishonesty does.
Trying to protect the business with a quick excuse usually creates a bigger customer service problem than the original issue.
Tell the truth. Customers are adults. They can handle it.
And when you own the mistake, fix the issue, and follow through, you still have a chance to turn a bad start into a loyal customer.
That is the Customer Service Crusade.