Sep
Success Priority
Remember when Sears, Roebuck and Company was a popular catalogue and department store?
They have declined over the years. Whatever happened?
I just had a bad experience with them over getting my garage door fixed. I decided to give Sears a call, as they advertised repairs for garage doors. They connected me with their contractor, an appointment was made, but nothing happened. The contractor did not show up to do the job. No contractor, no calls, nothing. Calling Sears customer service to rectify the problem was an exercise in frustration. Their representatives are in India and they do not understand very much. Nothing was resolved.
Perhaps my experience reveals a little of the cause behind the decline.
There was a time when Sears was much better at services such as auto repair, installations of appliances and home repair. They were also great at customer service. They had to be. In those days, many orders were made by telephone. You could call any department at Sears and know that you would be connected with someone who understood you and who understood the company. That person would help you place an order, get information about a product or resolve a complaint. The customer service people were very competent.
Now, buying a service from Sears is made impossible when the contractor neither shows nor calls, nor replies to calls. Getting customer service is frustrated by “bargain basement” representatives who do not understand the customer, nor are they well-versed in the company and its products and services.
At the center of this is service. The purpose of service is to serve a need or a person. In this instance, there was no service to either. This tells me that the company has shifted its focus away from customer satisfaction. Something else has been given priority. Would it not make sense that a department store should make a priority of attracting customers and making them repeat customers? If something else takes precedence over that, the result is fewer customers and less profit. That is not good. The purpose of a business is to make money from customers, not drive them away.
In many endeavors, success rests on one or more things. A business’s success depends on customers. An army’s success depends on its soldiers. You can have great strategy and weapons, but without soldiers, you have nothing. A theater’s success relies on its audience. You can have great acting and props and such, but if the seats are empty, get ready to close the doors. The point is that when the essential things are neglected or lose priority, success ebbs.
There are things that must have priority in order to assure success. You cannot cut corners on them or give them a lesser status. They are the conditions upon which your success is built. Give them priority and you will enjoy success. It is up to you to know what truly counts.
