orgcomania

Have you noticed how many organizations don't seem to even be aware of the way they communicate? One thing that gets me is how many times an organization could DO less and communicate better and actually be more successful. My wife went to a specialty store in the twin cities to buy a piece of equipment that she needed for an upcoming event (she's a caterer, among other things). The store did not have the item in stock but their salesperson assured her that there would be NO problem if they ordered it and had it delivered to her. She was very clear in telling them that if they could not guarantee that the item would arrive prior to the date of the event she was not interested. If there was any uncertainty about the delivery of the item the salesperson could have said they would try to have it there but couldn't "guarantee" it. Since the salesperson repeatedly assured my wife the item would arrive well before the date needed, she ordered it. Well guess what? The item didn't arrive leaving my wife in a fix. Now something went wrong. Maybe this is the only time in the history of the store that a promised item didn't show up but I doubt it. Now the store has at least one customer for whom they have created a significant credibility problem. Who knows how many other customers she'll talk to? If they had been more complete in their communication with her they could actually have gained credibility by NOT delivering the product. Of course the best case scenario is to communicate completely and deliver the product but in this case good communication and no product actually would have served them very well. I'm sure the salesperson isn't supposed to tell customers "we can't get that by then" (or even, in this case, "we may not be able to get that by then") but in many cases honest and complete communication is more important that the product you provide!