A frustrated business owner was grousing over lunch because a long time vendor he has depended on for a commodity service has recently had some quality issues.

“Look, he said, “I live a complex life. My business is complex, my personal life is complex, I often feel pulled in many directions at once. All I ask of my long-term vendors is that they give me good service, fair pricing, and no mistakes. That way I don’t have to spend the time and energy to replace them and I can work on other, more important things.”

“Recently, one of my vendors, who has preformed the same function every two weeks without fail for twenty-six years, has not shown up on the normal day and has caused me wasted extra effort and frustration. The first time it happened we called to alert them and they took care of it. The same thing happened the next two scheduled appointments though the last time we had to call them three times before they showed up and the person I talked to told me in a bored, matter-of-fact-voice, she is forwarding my complaint to her supervisor and, ‘I can’t do anything more than that.’ I guess they don’t care whether I buy from them or not and I’m sure there are other companies that will give me what I need without the problems we are experiencing.”

This sad scenario is played out every day to companies in all industries, but it truly doesn’t have to happen. While errors occur in all businesses, there should be a process in place to resolve them, monitor them, institute changes in service delivery, and make amends to the customer. What kind of “red flag” should be on the note the telephone person left for the supervisor? What action should the supervisor take whenever a “red-flag” is received? What further action should be taken to save the customer? Those are the questions that could save a twenty-six year relationship and questions every business should ask whenever they recognize they are delivering less than optimum quality.

Larry Galler advises executives, professionals, and businesses to extraordinary achievement. Email Larry on larry@larrygaller.com More information available at www.larrygaller.com