Morning Meeting from Hell
I am at work at 7 a.m. to prepare for an 8 a.m. meeting. A meeting I fully expect to be quite confrontational. We are meeting with an insurance agency, who we informed last week that we are leaving to go to another agency. The agency we are going to was the agency we left four years ago to go to the agency with whom we are meeting this morning. The entire reason we left one to go to two and are now leaving two to return to one? CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Yeah. In terms of insurance and our company - we spend a crapload of money annually on insurance and not just health insurance for the employees, I am talking millions in general liability, umbrella, workers compensation, and most importantly, surety bonding - the most important thing (beyond price) is customer service.
It's ridiculous. These things come around. So, why, when we call to tell you that we are moving the account, and you then call back and we tell you point blank why and that these things have a way of coming back around, do you then insist on a face to face meeting to hash it out? Do you really want to kill any possibility of a relationship in the future?
I hate confrontation. I have been dreading this meeting for ten days. I need a drink already.
Yeah. In terms of insurance and our company - we spend a crapload of money annually on insurance and not just health insurance for the employees, I am talking millions in general liability, umbrella, workers compensation, and most importantly, surety bonding - the most important thing (beyond price) is customer service.
It's ridiculous. These things come around. So, why, when we call to tell you that we are moving the account, and you then call back and we tell you point blank why and that these things have a way of coming back around, do you then insist on a face to face meeting to hash it out? Do you really want to kill any possibility of a relationship in the future?
I hate confrontation. I have been dreading this meeting for ten days. I need a drink already.
4 Comments:
You're meeting's started by now, and I hope it's going well.
My only suggestion would be to treat them as if they're about 5 - model the behavior you want to see out of them, and don't let them get away with any crap!
I hope the meeting went as well as could be hoped for. My boss says all the time that the only thing that makes our bank different than any other bank is our service. We have to make a point of giving superior service every single chance we get because other banks offer about the same products. I'm pretty sure the same goes for insurance companies.
Tanaya - that is exactly the reason we stay with our bank! The service we receive is top notch. And we have built up a super relationship with our banker and his team of people. I can go to anyone in that bank and have them know me and fulfill my requests. It's fantastic.
Actually, the meeting went way better than anticipated. Thank goodness.
I started out with my insurance agent 15 years ago with my car policy on my inexpensive, used car. Despite my low dollar policy, he gave me great service. When I had my law firm he ended up with my firm policy, building policy, homeowners, worker's comp, umbrella, life insurance policies, and policies on 4 cars. I paid him much more each month than I pay on my mortgage, but he kept me as a client even though I could have probably paid less elsewhere because he always answered my phone calls quickly, he would come to my office instead of having me go to his, and he seemed like he genuinely cared about me and my business. I also gave him dozens of referrals.
It's amazing how many service professionals just don't get that these things matter. I hope your old place figures this out.
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