Do you give customers an ETA and then fail to meet it? Or, even worse, fail to keep them updated when there’s a delay?
That’s one of the quickest ways to lose their trust, and eventually their business.
We’re doing some redecorating in the office just now, which naturally comes with a lot of deliveries. Some of them arrive outside office hours, and that’s fine. If we’re given a delivery window, someone can stay behind to receive it.
The problem starts when someone stays late, the ETA isn’t met and absolutely no update is provided.
Here’s what happened to us recently.
We ordered a lamp and were given a two-hour delivery window of 6–8pm, well after my usual finishing time. I stayed behind to receive it, but as you’ve probably guessed, the courier was a no-show.
Not only did they fail to arrive, but there was no call, email or tracking update to let us know what was happening. We couldn’t easily contact the courier or the retailer either. All we could find were contact forms and chatbots, no simple email address or telephone number where we could speak to an actual person.
Without any information, I assumed they must simply be running a little late. So I waited…and waited. Still nothing.
It was another 48 hours before we were finally told that the courier had been unable to locate us and would re-attempt the delivery on Sunday, another day when nobody would be in the office.
After eventually getting in touch with the courier, I was told the delivery had been rescheduled for Monday during working hours. Great. It had finally been sorted.
Or so we thought.
Lo and behold, on Sunday afternoon I received an email saying that the parcel had been delivered. The office was closed and locked, so my immediate thought was: where on earth have they left it?
Attached to the email was a photograph of the parcel, with a rather expensive lamp inside, leaning against the front door.
Of course, I travelled back to the office to bring it inside before anything happened to it. When I arrived, the parcel was nowhere to be seen. All that had been left was a delivery slip from a completely different courier company saying they would return on Monday.
There had been no notification of this and nothing to explain where the parcel was now. Once again, we were left wondering what was happening.
The lamp did eventually arrive safely on Monday, but by that point, the damage had already been done. I certainly won’t be ordering from that retailer, or anyone using that courier company, again.
The delay itself wasn’t the reason they lost our business. Delays happen. Mistakes happen. Most customers understand that.
It was the complete lack of communication at every stage.
The customer shouldn’t have to chase you for an update, search endlessly for a way to contact you or rearrange their day based on information that turns out to be wrong. If you know you’re not going to meet an ETA, tell them. If something has gone wrong, explain it. If you promise to update them, make sure you actually do.
This applies whether you’re delivering a lamp, completing a building job, preparing a set of accounts or replying to an email. If you give your client a timeframe, they will make plans around it.
A quick and honest update takes minutes. Staying silent can cost you the entire relationship.
So, ask yourself: are your clients ever left sitting around wondering where you, or the work you promised, have got to?
If the answer is yes, and you've been losing business, that's probably a factor in it.
