Water treatment companies, in many ways, are no different than any other type of business. You have customers, and those customers really need your help. It’s a pretty simple system when it boils right down to it. Why then do so few companies seem to truly follow through with what they say they will do?

For employees of water treatment companies (and all other types of businesses), this impact doesn’t only affect the customers we are responsible for- it can affect our own personal happiness in many significant ways as well.

Let’s take a look at 5 reasons why customer care and/or following through should be at the center of your universe.

Are we a Water Treatment Company?

Seeing how our primary business here in Maine is to fix water related problems for water treatment companiesour customers (Radon, Arsenic, water softening etc), you would think the answer to this question would be a simple “yes”.

I’m here to tell you that the answer, surprisingly, is NO. Well, not at least entirely, that is. Let me clarify.

The truth is, fixing our customer’s water isn’t the real reason we as a company exist. Our customers are!

Water Treatment Isn’t our Business | Our Customers Are

In reality, this question has very little to do with water treatment companies. It has to do with whatever type of business a person might work for and just about any role that person holds in a company.

water treatment companiesIt doesn’t matter what field your profession is in, or how far distanced you might be from your company’s customers- at the end of the day, there is a customer somewhere who needs help.

Is this is a fair assumption to make? I think for most of us it would be difficult to argue this fact.

If then, this rule holds true for most or all of us, maybe it’s time for businesses and employees to look at things a little differently. Maybe A LOT differently, for that matter.

The Importance of Following Through

Have you ever been frustrated with a company you did business with? Have you ever frustratedbeen let down by a business for not following through with what they told you they would do?

I think for most of us the answer is probably a great big yes. I also think for most of us, it’s a lousy feeling to be on that receiving end of things.

But what about the person on the other side of the fence? What impact does this type of behavior have on their personal lives and on their happiness?

How NOT Following through hurts US

In a recent article on The Huffington Post from bestselling author and relationship expert, Margaret Paul PH.D., we get to take a peak at the opposite side of the business/customer relationship and see just how unhealthy it is to the “non-followthrougher” when they don’t live up to the commitments they make.

Margaret looks at 5 key areas our own personal lives are greatly impacted when we don’t follow through with the things we say in both our personal and professional lives.

Following is a condensed recap of those 5 key reasons to always follow through.

Five Reasons to Do What You Say You Are Going to Do

1.      It’s a Matter of Integrity  I think for myself, at the end of the day, all I truly have is my sense of integrity. I tend to judge my daily “successes” in terms of the interactions and relationships I had with those I came in contact with.

I tend to ask myself questions like; “Do I bring something to the table in the relationships I hold with others” or “Did I contribute in any way to the lives of those I dealt with today…did I make their lives better in any way?” I know these may sound a bit old fashioned, but what if everyone we had relationships with looked at things from this same perspective?

Can you imagine the quality of relationships that we might be able to experience together?

2.       Trust & Reliability   In my personal opinion trust is everything! Trust in our business relationships, trust in our friendships, and trust in ourselves. Trust is the starting point to almost all that we do.

I know for the vast majority of our customers, if you were to ask them, they would tell you when it came right down to it that they decided to deal with us specifically because they felt comfortable with us. In other words, they trusted us and what we could do to help them. Once again, a bit old fashioned, I know. But maybe a bit of old fashioned could go a long way for most of us.

3.       Respect Matters   Respect for ourselves, respect for others…it all comes down to how we are willing to look at the daily relationships that shape our lives. We are all shaped by the decisions and attitudes we make every moment of our lives.

Do you respect the person you are talking to at any given moment? More importantly, what about the person staring back at you in the mirror? It’s worth honestly asking ourselves questions like these.

4.       The Value of Self Worth   “We cannot feel worthy when we let ourselves down by letting others down” says Margaret Paul. I couldn’t agree with this more.

The simple fact is, we live in a world with other people…lots of other people. We really are all in this deal together. It’s so easy for us in today’s society to “busy” our minds with all of the distractions and inputs available at our fingertips, and to think only of our own needs or wants.

But somewhere deep down inside, our conscience or sub-conscience knows it’s going to have to pay the piper. We can only hide from our true selves for just so long.

5.      Our Personal Power   According to Paul, “Personal power is the result of behaving in ways we value. “ If this is true than it might be very wise for us to really evaluate our own values.

I’ve always found the easiest way to do this in my own life is look at the ways in which others treat me…more importantly how I feel  about the way in which I’ve been treated.

water treatment customer serviceI believe strongly in the value of treating others in the way I would want to be treated myself. If we’re not sure of what our own personal values are, taking a close look at what makes us feel good about ourselves or what bothers us about how we’ve been treated is a porthole into what matters most to our belief system.

I think it’s a lot like a experiencing a mirror reflection in many ways. There’s a really good chance that what’s being reflected back at us from our outside world is what we need to pay attention to the closest. For me, this is where real personal power comes from.

What we see around us has so much to do with what’s going on inside us. I think most of us would be simply amazed if we really new just how true this really is!

 

If you enjoyed this article you may also want to check out Is Customer Care Still Alive | Maine Living