Don’t Settle For Poor Service

I’ve been a pushover for most of my life. There, I said it, now let’s move on. I have spent the majority of my life receiving sandwiches with mayo and onions when I said to leave them off, ice in my drinks after requesting the absence of ice, and a myriad of other service-related oversights and outright slaps. The problem was that I still paid and either didn’t enjoy my product or didn’t eat all, if any, of it.

That has changed, and it wonderfully started changing when I met my wife. I say “started” because it wasn’t too long ago that I still fell into old habits more than a man nearing 30 should. I started taking my food back to the counter or back to the kitchen. I discovered that returning an item at the store does not cause a rift in the universe. Did you know that you can return a toaster after 2 years? Inside family story, but true, nonetheless.

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Celebrating 45 Days With iThemes

I’ve been out of the clutches of Corporate America for 45 days now, and I’m simply loving it! Sure, I put in some long hours from time to time, but it’s because I am passionate about what we’re doing and have a vested interest in the success of the company. In the big cubicle farm, you don’t get jack if you bust your butt for a week to get something done on time, but it’s not like that when there are only five of you.

So far, I’ve fielded over 1,600 e-mails since Labor Day and posted 1,000 replies on the support forum since March, and it’s making a huge impact in customer opinion and even our bottom line by creating life-long iThemes fans based on our customer service alone. Now that our themes are catching up with the support we offer, the sky is the limit for our next couple of projects.

How Often Do You Compliment Others?

Pardon a minute of back-patting, but you will see that it is to make a point later on. I just can’t contain myself when I get a compliment like the one I just got. Sometimes, compliments are too few and lacking gusto. Then, there are days where you can be blown over with a feather because someone took time out of their busy day to send this to your boss:

I bought the Brochure template pack this morning and I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you. Thanks not only for providing an excellent quality product but also for making it available at such an outstanding price. I’m absolutely delighted with every aspect of dealing with iThemes from start to finish. I got my site up and running very quickly and then wanted to make a change which I couldn’t figure out. I looked around the support forum and in spite of my best efforts I couldn’t spot the answer. I posted a request for help and expected a response in a day or so. Within 15 minutes Jesse had a reply up there which hit the spot directly! As we say here in Yorkshire I’m “chuffed to bits.” –Nigel G.

http://ithemes.com/testimonials/

Then, to make things even better, my boss sent it to me, along with his reply to the customer affirming my role and superb work for the company. Amazingly, he was “chuffed to bits” over a response as simple and polite as this: “See if this topic helps you: http://forum.ithemes.com/index.php?topic=444.0” That one little thread started the rest of the day’s happy notes of affirmation.

Okay, bragging done, time for some meat… this has truly changed the way I will go about my day when someone impresses me with their performance on the job. If someone beats my expectation, I will now, at the very least, tell them that I appreciate them.

You never know when someone is having a miserable day, and this sort of thing can keep someone going on one compliment for days or weeks if they don’t get daily affirmation elsewhere. Few things in life feel as good as a verbal hug from a complete stranger.

-Note: just in case a certain client is reading this, I really adored and cherished your personal note earlier in the day, as well. I am very happy to be on your project and honored to have your appreciation.