A GREAT DISSERVICE TO SERVICE

[Karan]:  I experienced a couple of very interesting lessons yesterday in the importance of a positive attitude and the direct link between poor customer service and the subsequent inevitability of sales prevention.  And it was all over a bunch of flowers.

One of our many highly regarded customers - Mrs B - is celebrating a milestone birthday tomorrow, and we thought it would be a nice idea to organise a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to her home, just prior to her guests arriving for a party.  Simple enough task you would assume.

I always try to support other small local enterprises, and so I rang Florist Shop A, to enquire upon the possibility of having a modest hand-tied bouquet of spring flowers, delivered as late as possible (i.e.: 4pm - 5pm) on Saturday afternoon, to an address in Kettering.  Reasonable enough request?  Hmmmm, not so much. 

To begin with the phone was answered by a lady clearly tired and/or fed up, who greeted me only with the name of the shop.  Once I had explained my requirements, I was met with a whole list of reasons for not being able to meet my requirements: a) a boxed bouquet (as opposed to my preferred water bulb) would be better in case Mrs B was out when the delivery driver called, b) they were very busy and couldn't guarantee what time the delivery would be made, c) they were only open and only delivered up until 12.30pm on a Saturday, and on top of all of this, the very tired or fed up lady only ever discussed costs with me, never once did we discuss what Mrs B's favourite flowers might be.  I got so frustrated with being confronted with reasons not to send Mrs B flowers, that I made my excuses and politely ended the call.  No sale for Florist Shop A this time, or any other time, because I won't be offering my custom again.

I am aware there is a high probability that Mrs B will be out during a Saturday, which is why I wanted a later delivery time - she'd be home getting ready come late afternoon.  If Florist Shop A is so busy that it can't guarantee a delivery time, or be open/deliver later than 12.30pm, shouldn't Florist Shop A start reconsidering their operating hours?  And if staff are tired and fed up, that's no concern of mine, I just want flowers!  Mrs Tired Fed-up had given me every reason to phone Florist Shop B, so I did.

The phone at Florist Shop B was picked up with a cheery "good afternoon, how can I help you?", and Pat the florist, and I instantly started talking about whether Mrs B liked lilies, or not.  The rest of the conversation was friendly, informative and professional.  The latest delivery time Pat could offer me was 5pm on Saturday afternoon - perfect!  So assured and persuasive was Pat, that she actually upsold me - I ended up spending more than I had originally planned, simply because I was informed of the likely additional impact a superior bouquet would have on Mrs B, during her special milestone birthday.  Fantastic!  Winners all round, because I will now use Petal Cascade on Rockingham Road in Kettering again and again, because Pat is positive, knowledgeable and, ever so gently, persuasive.

Petal Cascade : (01536) 483456