What the hell is with bad communication?
Okay, I have about had it with bad communicators lately. It is amazing to me that people working in sales or service industries cannot pick up the phone and/or answer emails.
On my old voice mail message I used to say something along the lines of being very diligent at returning phone calls. It is true for the most part. I do my best to return every phone call in a timely manner. Honestly I am not as good at it as I once was but I think I get back to people quickly and with as accurate information as available.
Over the last week I have had a number of experiences with bad communicators. One is Orkin who services my rental properties as preventative maintenance. I need to give tenants 24 hours notice before entering their unit. Orkin knows this, we go over it every month. They call me the day before they want to do a service and say they will be there the following day at noon. No return number, no one to call. Now who said I am available to be there at noon? Is 24 hours enough time for me to have notice, just to give notice to tenants, no way! Can you leave a damn phone number to figure it out, no.
Worse, Orkin sends me a bill. I call the manager who apologizes, says itll never happen again, and we reschedule for the following Monday at 10am. Well as I stand there waiting on Monday, 15 minutes after the hour comes and I am pissed! 25 minutes later I leave. Orkin sucks.
Worse yet, I see the Orkin guy at Home Depot yesterday. He sees me and ducks behind and aisle with his back to me. Unbelievable!
That is just one example of what Ive dealt with over the last couple weeks. In addition I am doing two real estate deals and the realtors representing the other parties takes an average of 24-48 hours to return calls. What the hell?!
Many other realtors dont get this. When your loan guy cannot close your buyers deal, and my guy gets them fully approved, wouldnt you think that deserves a phone call? At least to the lender that leaves you messages saying their client is going to be able to close after all?
People if your agent/realtor doesnt return calls, move along. Real estate sales whether you like it or not, is a service industry. Realtors need to be available during a real estate transaction or they arent worth shit.
By the way I tend to associate with people that have the same work ethic. The folks on my Hookup of the Week are either great at getting you deals or great service, and often both.
Great point. Not the way that I would have approached it, but hey different strokes for different folks.
However, I would say that if you are going to write an article on “bad communication” you proof-read and make sure the article has strong grammar and punctuation. Hurts the argument…
Just my two cents.
Im just being honest. Thanks for the feedback. Now I feel we are communicating.
As far as spelling, grammer, punctuation… I addressed that awhile back. http://flippingrich.com/?p=79
Oddly enough Toby I asked a specific question and got this response, unrelated to the question I asked. Which probably answers the question I posed, albeit indirectly.
That was a big part of why I did this post.
Okay, I re read that post, it was bad, I fixed some of it. If you can follow my stream of consciousness writing we are a perfect match.
D,
Why didn’t you confront Mr. Orkin? You should have grabbed one of those orange Home Depot pails and hurled it at him. That would have gotten his attention!
As far as communication goes, the new generation relies way too much on voicemail, email and cell phones. You have to really wonder what the business world was like back before all of todays technology. Before Gordan Gecko was on the beach talking to Bud Fox with his cinder-block looking mobile phone… How did these people actually function? Do you remember when you actually ate at nice restaurant without hearing a symphonic version of “It’s Raining Men”?
What a wonderful world it must have been.
even worse, using blog comments to send messages, haha, we suck
unit 105 should be open
Does this mean I get the T Shirt?
My wife already yelled at me for being up so late!
Steve you must cherish these shirts ;), although its not a bad thing. Yes, you are in on the shirt, but you have to wear it when we go out to some unmentionable place to be named at a later date. At least to the Bulldog so we can sip a nice Hoegarden.
I ordered a cropped mesh shirt special for you and Jess.
If you were so pissed at Mr. Orkin man, why did you include a link to their website?
If I piss you off enough can I get a special link to my website also?
Please step-out the burning paper bag of dog doo when I ring your doorbell tomorrow!
Sweet! Your too kind! Will my shoulder pads fit under them? If not, can I substitute it for the flipping rich beer bong?
fantastic - looking forward to a summer of sporting the mesh and flexing 24/7 - those things breathe so well you rarely have to wash them.
Orkin hires ALOT of new guys every season, because they layoff ALOT of guys each end of season. Their business model is basically 80% sales and 20% service. They know if you tell people you’re the greatest bug killer in the world…eventually the majority will believe it.
The story with Orkin gets even worse. They continue to bill me (on my visa) even though they no longer do service.