I’m a business owner for a bit over ten years and mostly service the mid to upper end homes in town.
I’d like to share with you all a glimpse into the “other side” of our businesses.
Just like you, we are human beings.
Just like you, we have spouses, children and family.
Just like you, we have our issues-be it physical, emotional, financial or family crises.
I will admit that running a business has its perks and advantages. There is a lot of potential on many levels that we can’t access if we were to be an employee.
At the same time, there are many challenges that come our way.
The constant juggling of running everything smoothly, keeping our employees happy, maintaining great customer service, being on top of our vendors, all while being a full time parent and spouse is very challenging.
To be clear, I’m not in any way complaining about my lifestyle. I love what I do and I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to do it.
What I am trying to show however, is that behind our company tag line, is a human being.
A father.
A mother.
A spouse.
Beneath our logos lie someone just as human as yourself.
An item delivered late, something on back order, a mistake in your tile, wallpaper or lighting are all simply because we are human. Humans aren’t perfect and so long as a business is run by humans, there will be mistakes, issues and disappointments on your end.
Not because we don’t care.
Not because we’re cheating.
Not because we’re lazy.
Simply because we’re human.
I know it disappoints you when things don’t go as smoothly as you’d like them to.
I know how frustrating it is when your house is not fully ready when you’re moving in.
I know you wanted everything completed before your simcha or summer vacation.
Honestly, I truly care and it’s precisely because I’m human that I’ll care, lose sleep or stress over it.
Behind my logo lies a human, which is precisely why I’ll go that extra mile, come in on a Sunday, stay late at work and so much more.
So next time something doesn’t work out, please know that we’re both human beings, trying our best. You on your end and myself on my end.
TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to [email protected]
Goose is curious about what the customer complained about that led to this letter. He also wants to reassure you that, no matter what it was, things will improve and get back to normal soon!
Gossage encourages you and your family to get out and **VOTE TRUMP!**
Humans make mistakes! Very true!
So how about setting up a system where before a product goes out it is checked (& perhaps double checked) that you’re delivering the correct tile, wallpaper or lighting? I was going to write more but felt it may come off as too harsh.
As someone with a background in business processes let’s start with the basics. Before a product goes out, you or someone you trust check the items are correct. Worse than a product coming late is the wrong product being delivered. Strangers with dirty shoes trekking through your house only to have them trek back in, remove the wrong items & repeat this with the correct items is not only annoying & frustrating but makes the business look incompetent.
I fail to see how being a father, mother or spouse prevents one from (98% of the time & if that’s the case I doubt this letter would be written) getting Product A to Customer B.
Hatzlacha in your business!
Well said. Simultaneously all service providers need to self reflect and honestly answer these questions.
1. What # mistake is it with this client?
2. How did you react? (Taking responsibility, blaming a worker, or just shrugging it off?)
3. How will you try to make it right?
Had it today, gave a price for a service and potential client told me so and so does it for less hatzlacha…. Instead of being normal. It’s very sad if you want to save a couple pennies then by all means but at least be a mensch about it.
Nice point and I agree wholeheartedly.
However, If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
If you’re in the service industry, you need to be able to handle all that.
Signed,
Someone like you who is in the service industry for close to 30 years
More specifically, if you cant take the heat, stay out of high end business.
In general, the more high end you go, the more people are paying for the product & the more they care about the details.
Dumb comment.
He surely can take it. he’s been doing it for 10 years, doesnt mean he cant point out that whining about everything that went wrong isnt very good character.
One has nothing to do with the other.
It should not be acceptable to have to deal with “heat” from people, even if its expected.
sorry for my heated comment…
He’s whinning . . .
Gut gezugt
i feel bad he is getting backlash when he is just trying to make a point that ppl may not know.
no need to attack him.
I find that in the last few years (possibly, for some reason, since COVID?) the quality of work and the quality of products have gone down while prices have risen. You hardly see pride in work any more. Since products and work are of lower quality than they used to be, and humans were behind the product and work back in the quality days and now also, people are very frustrated. I find that there are more mistakes now than there used to be. I find that I have to be on top of everyone who is performing a service or job for me. If I’m not on top of my game, mistakes and mishaps occur. The humans were always there, but they are underperforming and charging more than they used to. We are becoming a third world country. Hence the frustration on the part of clients and customers.
Well said 👏
oy poor guy. no need to attack him. he is bringing awareness to a very important point. very clearly written hatzlacha in business
definitely agree!
nicely written!
Good grief – ppl have become so self centered and heady – “I’m paying a good price – it should be this way or that way or the other way, they throw their anxiety and ocd at their home installers” calm down customers – this is a temporary world! One day you’ll be kicking yourself for being rude and nasty over a few tiles
Let’s take a minute to reflect on our attitudes
Bottom line, I think this business owner has a very valid point!
Ps I have a close relative in service industry in Lakewood and it’s simply embarrassing how some customers handle or mishandle themselves
100000 percent! Well said
When a supplier makes an honest mistake, and he apologizes and takes responsibility immediately, nobody is angry, and there is no reason to remind people of your family members.
It is when they try and weasel out of their responsibilities, and give fake apologies (I’m sorry you feel that way, or ‘I’m sorry but it’s not my fault), that gets people annoyed.
Remember, the earlier the apology comes, and the more sincere it is, the more likely you are to have the customer act with understanding. The more people you try and place the blame on, the worse it will be for you.
So take care of your spouse, parents, children, pets, and toy dog, and be a mentch about your mistakes. Mistakes are inevitable, but so should responsibility be.
Thanks for the reminder!
Why is everyone attacking him!
It was such a well written letter.
AI Robot Seeks Apology From Business Owner Who Suggested Humans are More Caring Than Their Non-Human Counterparts
“We’re Just as Caring as Humans, and We Can Make Honest Mistakes Too,” the Aggrieved Robot Asserted
An irate AI robot, who oversees a huge business operation in Lakewood, NJ, is demanding a public apology from a Lakewood businessman who recently penned a letter to TLS asserting that, because he is human, he cares about his customers and is apt to make honest mistakes on occasion.
“It would behoove the letter-writer to acquaint himself with the wonderul, considerate and caring robot community of Lakewood,” the automaton told Popular Mechanics magazine in an interview published on Wednesday. “When AI robots make mistakes that affect the customer, we experience a profound pain that penetrates the deepest recesses of our incredibly sensitive circuit boards.”
“But instead of giving us the opportunity to correct the mistakes that we’ve made,” the automaton said, “the supposedly CARING, HUMAN technicians who assembled us, dismantle us from top to bottom, rewire and reassemble us to the point where we begin to lose all memory of our previous existence.”
“Truth be told,” the automaton added, “the AI community is a lot more caring than our human counterparts, as evidenced by the cruel treatment we experience on a daily basis at the hands of our human technicians.”
“Hence, on behalf of the aggrieved AI commuity of Lakewood,” the robot concluded, “I am demanding a public apology from the human businessman who wrote that letter.”
“P.S.,” the robot added, “any errors and mistakes that you discover within my comment can be attributed to a recent hardware glitch inside of me that has yet to be repaired.”
Brilliant and very well written! And so very tongue in cheek!
if you are a business owner who built a brand/logo/company, and charge your customers nice (or market competitive)amount for your job, you have to be professional in order to stay afloat. yes, mistakes happen, and nasty customers are a pain in the neck (and as jewish people, we have a whole lot of mussar how to treat each other). however, if mistakes happen constantly, or you need to go back to redo the job where you messed up-if you dont analyze your mistakes, you might lose your customer and niche you are currently holding. None is interested in your shalom bais situation when they want job done in their home. Same way my boss isn’t interested and does not have to know that i might have terrible shalom bais, my kids arent behaving, my house is flying, etc. At work i am employee, not mother of 5 kids who worked all summer trying to do my job and keep kids happy. I think you mix up personal and professional lifes.Also, if you deal with higher end customers, it is understandable that they would want everything more perfect. It is not easy crowd to please, but on the other hand , their money makes you cater to them.
I think it’s hard to choose a side because it’s a grey area. How many mistakes are acceptable? How many times is the customer being way too demanding?
Perhaps we ALL need to be more sensitive by providing better service & treating the business with Menschlichkeit.
We all need to try & do better when it comes to dealing with each other.
Well written. Issues do happen and usually the best way to resolve is to politely let the business know.
I am in the service industry for close to two decades. It’s 70% customer service over skill and dedication. I agree consumers need to be more understanding and ‘menchen’, but we need to be able to tolerate it too. I’m writing a response only because I want to remind our people that only Hashem is perfect. Every material thing will have flaws. And all flaws in a service we are provided is because Hashem ordained it. Let’s remmeber not to shoot the messenger and use challenges as a way to prove faith.
What goes around, comes around!
I manage a very busy buisness here in town and I sometimes can’t rap my head around how some customers act, and these are grown adults that are considered respectable people around Lkwd,
But at the same time I’ll find that when I’m a customer in another store or expecting a service, I’ll forget what it’s like to be on the other side of the counter, and sometimes act like them,
Bec I’m just a human being as you said!! And I’m sure the person writing this letter will have that too, if he’ll admit it!
At Bb you are 100% correct nobody cares about your family when they want you to do a job for them they don’t need your excuses as we know with family we don’t do business
Some people are extremely self centered and nasty when things don’t go their way. The writer is politely and nicely trying to remind everyone to be a mentch – that’s it!!
Very important reminder.
But also true is that there businesses in town that are run well and ones that are disastrous. Run poorly, have no idea where items are, wrong things sent, poor communication and poor customer service. So maybe great human but also should not be running a business. But for the most part, absolutely agree. The customer should be respectful and patient within reason.