People who remember chalkboards know that fingernails on a chalkboard create an awful sound that can make a brain hurt. Similarly, I’ve heard some folks say when they hear poor grammar, such as, “Me and Joey went to the zoo,” it screams out to them like … fingernails on a chalkboard. 😆
Why do I share these odd examples? Because I have a similar experience when I hear excuses. They ring in my ears like … well, you get the point. Excuse-making explodes in my mind—whether I make the excuse or others do.
Three Excuse-Making Examples:
1. My wife pays a private healthcare person for services. The provider has a “portal” for client communication. Karen recently had a medical concern, so she messaged the gal who owns the practice, a nurse practitioner, on a Monday. By Friday—no response. So Karen sent another message, and the NP responded, “I’ve been on jury duty.”
Do. Not. Care.
With two staff members working for this boss, shouldn’t she have someone monitoring all incoming messages at all times?
Of course, yes. No excuses.
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2. Our son, Michael, a business owner, pays a vendor for a monthly service. During a 3-week period, Mike’s contact failed to respond to text messages and emails. When he finally heard from the vendor, he was informed his rep had been sick with a cold and busy doing volunteer work.
Wha … ???
It is not unreasonable for clients to expect prompt responses. Let’s return to the old “Sundown Rule”: All responses to customers (and vendors) are made by the day’s close of business. No excuses.
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3. I emailed a resort (one affected by lousy weather months earlier) that we’d given money for a reservation but received no response. My email had gone to the GM, who shares his email address on all reservation confirmations. Days later, when I forwarded the unanswered email to the front desk, I got a response saying, “Sorry for the delay in responding, but as you can imagine, we’ve been quite busy.”
It sounds harsh to say, “Don’t care,” but customers DO NOT CARE what a vendor has been doing with their time. This information is irrelevant to the customer-vendor relationship. When clients want a problem solved or a question answered, they want it pretty much now—not when it’s convenient for the service provider. No excuses.
All organizations exist to serve people. That’s their purpose. Period. So, it behooves all individuals to commit to answering queries helpfully and solving problems efficiently. Will we falter and fail? Do we get distracted, delayed, and deluged at times? Yes. But when we <finally> connect with our consumer, all we need to say is, “I’m so sorry. How can I help?”
One more time: “I’m so sorry. How can I help?” 👏🏻
This sure beats making excuses that explode in a customer’s mind … like fingernails on a chalkboard! Amen? 😉
Have you made any excuses recently? Heard some in your organization? What’s the cost of excuse-making? Share your thoughts!
12 Responses
I’ve recently noticed a push to avoid “apologizing” at work. What’s your opinion on changing “I’m so sorry” to “I appreciate your patience” or something of that nature?
Thanks, Melinda. What do you believe is causing some people to avoid apologizing? Something in our broader culture?
I don’t agree with it 100% of the time, but I think it’s a movement to avoid looking “weak” at work. But even beyond that, when I think about someone apologizing to me, it’s very them-focused; alternatively, having someone reframe it as thanking me or appreciating me for something, I might come away feeling like they are me-focused. There’s a lot of nuance, obviously, and different wording works in different situations.
Thank you, Mindie!
thank you for this article. I have experienced no responses and to be honest it is frustrating. I too expect more especially if I am a customer or doing work that calls for a response to continue the work assignments. This is also a reminder for me to show respect to customers and all who I communicate with. Thanks again
Glad you stopped by to comment, Felicia!
I work fire va major restaurant company and ideal (as a manager) with customer complaints. It often happens that an employee made a mistake and wants me to come up with an excuse for their guests. When I believe of them and more of us would own up to our mistakes, the customers would be happier in the long run and a lot of time would be saved from avoiding excuses.
Appreciate you sharing, Jeff!
Hi John, this post hit home for me. Last year I had an issue with my home and auto agent and insure. I have been with them for over 20 years, no claims. I called one of the owners to discuss the issue with him. No response. I waited a couple of weeks and called again, after talking to a person, so I know he should have received the message. Next month, when my policies are due for renewal, I am going to a new agent and insurance company. They don’t want my business, that’s fine with me.
And there ‘ya go: a reasonable response to a vendor who doesn’t get it. 🙂 Thanks, Susan!
I personally have seen a drop in the apologies in the public when I do not get what I ordered or paid for. No one seems to say I’m sorry let me fix that. Most of the time I get “do you want me to fix that”? It blows my mind the lack of compassion I see as a consumer.
Agreed, Rachel. Don’t get it either!