On a recent trip to Denver, I had two experiences on the same day that demonstrated to me the importance of good systems and backup systems.
Both situations worked out, but they could have caused complications for the companies involved.
The first instance happened on a plane that I was boarding. I usually check in the night before from home. This time, though, the airline said that they couldn’t assign my seat and that it would be assigned at the gate the next day. That’s unusual, but not unheard of.
The next day at the gate, the agent was helpful and asked what kind of seat I wanted. I have long legs, so I asked if he had a seat in an exit row or one of the others with extra legroom. He said he would try and he’d have my ticket shortly.
Right before I got on the plane, he gave me my ticket and it was the first row in coach. This row has great legroom.
As I got to my seat, I saw a woman sitting in it. I wondered how that could be. When I asked her about the seat, it turned out that she had a boarding pass for it too. That was odd. The flight attendant resolved it, and everyone had a seat, though I was seated farther back in the plane.
That was the first time I’d experienced an occurrence where two people had the same seat assignment, and what made it stranger was that I hadn’t received my boarding pass until minutes before boarding.
Later that same day at the hotel, another incident happened. I arrived early, and my room wasn’t ready yet. No problem; I had work to do and the lobby had Wi-Fi. I found a corner and got to work.
I was called to the front desk and told my room was ready. I went up to my room, inserted the key, and walked in—and there was another guest in the room, a young woman.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
My key worked, and I had the key packet from the hotel. Her key had worked, and she had a key packet from the hotel as well. We went down to the desk, and they gave me a different room.
Neither of these instances was serious, but they didn’t help the reputation of the companies involved, and depending on reactions of the clients, they could have developed into issues. Not everyone accepts others mistakes in an easy going manner, and on other days I may not have either.
Both of these entities are large companies, and their systems broke down at critical points.
In your business, what systems do you have to serve your customers, and how reliable are they? What systems do you have for marketing, and how reliable are they?
Are your systems causing issues with your customers that could be avoided?
Have you thought about what could cause these issues and then sought out a solution for them?
I wouldn’t have thought much of these occurrences if both hadn’t come up within a few hours of each other. Someone was trying to teach me a lesson. What was it? Did I learn it?
I have looked at what I do and how I do it since then, and yes, I found a few issues. I think I have them solved, and I will keep working on eliminating any I see as they develop.
That is the point: We think we have an issue solved and we move on, but we need to be alert for new situations coming up that test our systems.
Are you happy with the results of your marketing systems?
If you are, keep doing what you’re doing. If you’re not happy, find out what you can change and move forward.
If you’re looking to add profitable online marketing to your efforts and you want help setting it up, schedule a complimentary discover call with me by clicking here. There is no cost to you to discovery what you can do and how I can help you, and you’ll leave with ideas of what you can do even if you decide to go out on your own.
Have a great day!