I spent the majority of my formative years getting yelled at by customers for the size of clam bellies. This notion can’t 100% be understood unless you too were once a young cashier girl at a lobster pool off of the New England coast but in short, I spent my summers getting chewed out for all the wrong reasons. Clams, sales tax, not accepting credit cards- you name it.
Know what? It was one of the best experiences of my life, as I learned very quickly how to treat others.
For those who know me, holiday card season can’t come soon enough and this year is no exception. As with most years, I got on the ball early this year early and two weeks ago, I put in my print order with an online company that I often recommend to my clients.
The proof came in via email and as soon as I saw it, I realized I needed to chat directly with customer service to make sure I was understanding the placement of the design correctly. A quick call and a few chuckles with the customer service department about my cheeky design later, I was set straight and told to move forward with approving the proof.
So you can imagine my surprise when I received 250 holiday cards printed upside down that now served as scrap paper. If this was Twitter, it would be an #epicfail. I did my due diligence to rectify the situation and the company’s quality control department sent me a short reply that essentially said, sucks to be you. Not exactly the response I expected given the company was clearly at fault.
Could I have sent a nasty email back? Jumped on the phone with my angry pants and tell them exactly what they could do with those upside down holiday cards? Sure. But guess what? Niceness gets you everywhere while bad tempers get you absolutely nowhere.
I gave it a good half hour and got back on the phone with customer service- a nice guy who had nothing to do with my 250 pieces of scrap sitting on my dining room table. I plead my case with sincerity and five minutes later, I had an apology and full credit. I thanked my new favorite person profusely and he replied, “Well you were just so nice that I really wanted to go to bat for you.”
My point in this off topic semi ramble? Making nice is always far more productive than the alternative- whether you’re dealing with brides, fellow vendors or people who won’t eat small clams. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, take a deep breath, craft a logical reply and make nice happen. You’ll be glad you did.
And if anyone needs some cheeky holiday inspired scrap paper, give me a call. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Meghan Ely is the owner of wedding marketing and wedding pr firm OFD Consulting. She is the exclusive wedding pr columnist to wedding marketing journal WedLock magazine and is a highly sought after speaker in the wedding industry. She loves ruffle table runners and Royal Wedding Tchotchkes. To learn how OFD Consulting can assist you with your wedding marketing and wedding pr, please contact us today.
