Once in a while, the Universe likes to slap me upside the head. Sometimes I'm clever enough to get my head out of my ass to appreciate the redirection to the path of least resistance but most times I'm too thick skulled to notice. The beautiful thing of physically aging is you realize that as you get older, you don't heal as fast as you used to. Those days of getting shitfaced, pulling an all nighter and going to work the next morning are not only just painfully ugly, but the option of death always seems more appealing then putting in eight hours wrapped around a toilet. I'm not a spring chicken anymore. I can't afford to be stupid because my recovery time as an old person is no longer on my side. After much experimenting I have come to realize that I just need to roll with it and only when I LET IT GO, is when I realized I actually suffer a lot less.
You cannot control everything. You are not responsible for everyone's happiness. What people think of you, doesn't matter. Just take a leap of faith in a higher power that everything that you were meant to experience will just happen. Just LET IT GO...
I, Madame Tasker, Goal Setter Extraordinare, Textbook A Personality has decided to do a u-turn on this Earth Experiment. I have been deconstructing systems that no longer serve me. Simultaneously I have been creating alternative perceptions that I enjoy more. One of these perception shifts is simply choosing to focus on helping people find more happiness in their lives. This is a natural function in the business I am currently operating because I'm entrusted to create beautiful spaces. As per the HGTV channels, there is a lot of drama that goes with interior design because you're spending a sizeable chunk of change. Anytime there is this level of money invested, emotions are always high when things go sideways. I do my best to deliver on our commitment of customer satisfaction but let's face it... shit does happens. How you apply that shit separates you from the clever farmer that uses it to fertilize her abundant crops to the miserable hoarder that was buried alive in it.
This past Thursday was the most bizarre single day that has every happened in my five years of being an entrepreneur. Two months ago I ordered the wrong size couch for a client. In addition to this, the factory just had a flood so even if they wanted to help me fix my embarrassing error by expediting the re-order, they said it would take two months to get back to production. Feeling absolutely awful for my client's inconvenience I offered him the incorrect sofa as a loaner and extended an extra 10% refund once the new one was delivered. Two months later, the sofa arrives and he comes in to tell me personally that both his wife and him are just so happy with our level of service and design that he doesn't want to have a 10% refund. Instead he said, "Just keep the money." My jaw dropped to the ground. I was speechless. When I awkwardly rebuttled he just replied that if I feel that bad keeping the money then feel free to make a donation to my charity of choice. I gave him a giant hug and he just said, "No thank you. You have no idea how appreciative we are to have your team help us."
After he left, another couple that was unhappy with the way their custom furniture was stained came in. We had exchanged some emails prior regarding their concern so I already knew he and his wife were ready for a fight. In conflict management I have learned it always best to let the disgruntled customer say everything that they need to say without interruption to ease the friction and pacify the aggression. Essentially they were unhappy with the uneveness of the stain and as a result had a need to find EVERYTHING wrong with the cabinet. I see this negative perception occur everyday. Once someone decides that something is wrong, they will shift their preception to see only the negative things to support their claim. They are so hell bent on their stance of being right that even after logic and facts are introduced they still refuse to accept any other perception. This really is a choice in life. After listening to their concerns for twenty minutes I professionally shared my opinion which essentially was not what they wanted to hear. I stood behind my manufacturer because although they do make errors, this was not one of them. This was a simple case of the customer having expectations that were unrealistic for this product so I attempted to manage it through a detailed explanation of woodworking to systematically debunk their negative stronghold. Anedoctally, I told them that many customers love that look that they just so happen to label as "poor craftmanship" and even request it. I can tell by their body language that they didn't believe me. After an hour of talking in circles I finally put my foot down and said, "I know you are unhappy about the stain and I am willing to have a high end refinisher that works with antiques redo the stain for you at my cost because at the end of the day, I want you to love your furniture like all my other customers. The product is not a defect and to show my commitment behind it, I will happily refund you your money because I confidentally know I can sell these pieces off the floor in a couple of months. I don't want you to feel like you're being held hostage with something you hate. I will not however give you an extra discount because there is nothing wrong with the cabinets." They bedgrudgingly took up on my offer to get the cabinet re-stained but I'm sure they went home that night to make voodoo dolls of me.
After that heated debate, one of my favorite customer comes in as bubbly and chirpy as usual. She recently purchased two armchairs from us that had an issue with the zippers. She comes in with her cute little son in tow and goes to the floor model of her armchair to inspect it in an attempt to understand why her models are failing. She squeals in delight that she found $2.25 when she removed the seat cushion. I laughed really loudly because back in my IKEA days working in sofas, I used to find all sorts of change in the couches when I had to straighten out the cushions. Strangely enough, I never actually found any money in my own store. She gives me the change to which I said, "Nope it's yours baby. Finder keepers." She refused to keep the money and said, "Go treat yourself to a coffee. You deserve it!" I give her an update of where we are at on her chairs, she happily thanks us for being on top of things and she tells me about some other things she needs to finish off her home.
After she left, I get an email from my delivery team telling me one of our manufacturers dropped the ball yet again and the repaired dining table for another customer was not ready because "they forgot about it." This poor customer bought a table and only one of the leaves fit. We went through hell and back trying to get the defective leaf temporarily fixed in time for Christmas but in the end, the delivery company screwed the pooch and forgot to drop it off. She made it very clear that we ruined her Christmas dinner because two people couldn't sit at the table. To make matters worse, the manufacturer wanted the entire table back to ensure the leaves are a perfect fit and they could only commit to a seven day turn around. After another phone call explaining she would be without a table for a week and refunding her delivery fee, she politely lets us know she is extremely upset but understands. Now after reading this awesome email, I had the pleasant opportunity to let her know that her dining table is going to take two weeks. I attempt to soften the blow by offering 50% off the matching bench she was originally eyeing. She replies that not only did I ruin her Christmas, but her Family Day and now she can't hold an Olympics function too. Wow, who knew a missing table wreaked as much havoc in the world as a zombie apocolypse. She professionally lets me know she understands it's not our fault but she will not be ordering anything else from us. I'm pretty sure there will be a hashtag #mylifeisruined posted to Twitter soon.
After that lovely interaction, I followed-up on a customer that complained her bed slats broke. After listening to her, it occured to me that she just put her mattress straight onto the slats and of course it broke because the bed was designed to be used in conjunction with a boxspring. I let her know that the product would not have failed if it was used properly as it was intended to be designed. She starts screaming that no one told her that and if she knew she would have never bought the bed because she doesn't own a boxspring. Ironically, for emphasis she said, "If I wanted to have my furniture fall apart I would have spent less money at crappy IKEA instead a lot of money." What she doesn't know is that I have a photographic memory. During the summer, this same woman asked me that exact question and I educated her on how this model needed a boxspring. At that time she also asked if we had a lay away plan and I politely let her know that we didn't. She commented that it was stupid and she wanted to talk to the person that was in charge. I told her she was talking to her. Then in the fall, she came back and asked about the boxpsring again and asked if she can have free delivery. I politely let her know that the floor model was 50% off and I usually give one promotion but not both. In this instance the savings of $1,300 was more than the $89.25 delivery. Again, she said my rules were stupid and left. In the winter, I guess she finally saved enough money and came in to get her dream bed. Fast forward to two months later and she's telling me no one told her squat about the boxspring. I just politely told her everyone in my store knows this model requires a boxspring. She replies, "It's he said, she said and I'm not getting into with you." I told her I know for a fact we shared this information and recant the two times I personally told her. I have impeccable memory, especially when people affectionately call me stupid. She's in shock at my recollection. I could have left her high and dry but I do the right thing regardless of her negativity. I choose to ignore her lies and her poor attitude and decide to kill her with kindness. To assist her, It tell her I will personally drive out to Surrey to pick up a slatted queen base that will convert her bed to a platform one, drive it back to her home, help her install it and only charge her for the wholesale cost of the part. All of a sudden I'm the best thing since slice bread.
After her call, another client comes in and she's all smiles. We have been working with her for almost a year and this poor girl finally installs this pendant light that has been on back order for 8 months just to find out that it actually doesn't work. I feel so awful about it and apologize profusely for the run of bad luck. She's visibly bummed but just brushes it off and says, "I know we'll figure out something, I'm not going to stress it." Instead she tells me how much she loves everything so far that our talented Rachael has done and we debate about the challenges of modern day parenting, her community and how we secretly want to run away to Bali to avoid the expectations. I help her with her rug into her car and she gives me a big hug.
It's finally closing time and after a day like today, nothing would have felt better than going straight home and opening a bottle of wine. Unfortunately I have promised to drop off a stag head to a client because I was hoping she would install it prior to our professional photo shoot of her home on Saturday. I trudge off hoping the transaction is quick and painless. The good news is she loves it, the bad news is she asked me to install the wall decor. Liability wise I'm not suppose to be installing shit but I break down and whip out her drill, hammer, drywall anchors, screws, level and pencil and hang the stunning stag head. She lives in Ottawa but has a recreational home here and we start chatting about her husband who is a laser eye surgeon. I commented if he was based here, I would go get my eyes laser corrected since I'm so nervous about doing it. She looks at me and says, "If you ever come to Ottawa, he would do your eyes for free because he thinks so highly of you and all the beautiful work you have done for us."
Shit happens. It doesn't matter if you're a saint or you're an evil internet troller, the one constant is no one escapes shit. The beauty of shit is it is in the eye of the beholder. The highs and lows of humanity albeit intensely, beautifully played out in an eight hour shift and at the end of it, I had the biggest smile because a) I finally had my wine and b) my perception stayed focussed on my first and last interaction. The rest, I'm just letting it go... This is the big plot twist in the Book Of Huong. I have taken a U-TURN because once upon a time as a child I did believe in trusting something bigger than me.
No comments:
Post a Comment