<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Aah, Telstra.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">If you own a business small enough that it’s your job to do hand-to-hand combat with a telco, these two words say it all. And it doesn’t matter what brand name you insert: nothing brings out a sense of shared suffering better than a tale of a telco stuff-up.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">I had a story I dined out on regularly that involved a telco sub-contractor turning up to fix a crackle – and ending up severing all of the phone and fax lines running to my business. That was fun.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Right now, I’m in my 7<sup>th</sup> week of hour-long conversations with many truly delightful employees of a certain telco, each of whom is exceedingly articulate and apologetic for all the employees who have gone before them. (One supervisor, in all seriousness, said to me: “You need to expect that we won’t get anything right. In fact, I find it best to have very low expectations.”) </span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">My end of a conversation just a week ago went something like this: “So you’re telling me that you can see that you’ve made a mistake in charging me $700 extra this month, but that it’ll take you another three months to reverse the mistake in billing… so I need to give you $700 now and trust that you’ll give it back to me later?”</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Not surprisingly, I asked for this once-in-a-lifetime deal in writing.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Of course, stuff-ups, broken promises and disappointments occur every day between businesses and consumers. It’s human nature. It doesn’t have to be a telco – although they do it with panache. And it doesn’t have to be big business – although it often is.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Small businesses can often break faith with customers through the sheer limitations of their size. Flexibility and nimbleness are great benefits of working with small business; but when lots of work hits, there’s no-one spare to get it done. Unfortunately, SMEs also need to fight harder than big corporates to keep consumer faith and love alive – because it can mean the difference between floating or sinking.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Here’s a great example. Quite a few weekends ago, a small water filter company I’ve used in the past phoned me. The first guy – who said he was the business owner – gave me the sales spiel, and then handed me off to the junior to take my order. Inwardly, I applaud their decision to go aggressively out to the market and to phone customers one by one for after-hours orders. After all, when cash flow’s tight, you have to work smart. Outwardly, I’ll probably not order from them again: the filter still hasn’t arrived.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">It’s all very well for marketing managers to talk endlessly about channels, for CEOs to cast vision and for designers to beleaguer brand design.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">But at the heart of every brand experience must be <em>trust</em>, in any of its forms. If you’re a services company, then be a trusted advisor. If you provide products, then provide them to a high standard. And in every transactional stage, keep your promises – whether it’s getting a bill right, delivering a product or following up words with actions.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Small businesses also need to keep promises in order to grow their future markets. Nothing closes doors on future opportunities faster than a disgruntled current customer. Case in point: I’m a hostile captive to my telco. No other telco covers my area – so it’s either their way or no information superhighway. But captivity doesn’t encourage me – it frustrates me, and when added to negative experiences, makes me ready to share my tales with anyone and everyone.</span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Likewise, small businesses need to beware the hostile captives in their business. Is there a customer who’s contractually wedded to you but bitterly unhappy with the service you provide? Beware their rage – it can and will go viral to potential customers in the blink of an eye. </span></p>
<p class="AAPARAGRAPH"><span lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">Cherish the value of trust to your customers. Promises kept will define you and your brand long after your competitors have broken theirs.</span></p>