I had the opportunity this week to give some feedback to one of our vendor services that we use, WP Engine. I had experienced a bit of a let-down in what my expectations were of their service and honestly it was a failure of some of the features that caused us to choose their services in the first place.
Without going into a lengthy discourse into the events that occurred it can be summed up into a series of somewhat non-standard requests, miscommunication and a gap in communication between actions being taken on a site and the original request.
After I’d regrouped and calmed down from the events and had gotten things back online and settled with the client, I did a bit of research on WP Engine’s website and familiarized myself with their staff. I made note of who I thought were the “management” individuals I should contact and requested a phone call between myself and the appropriate representative from WP Engine.
This past Wednesday, I spoke with Tin Pham, “Sales Consultant Extraordinaire” about my issues over the last few days. I let him know that I had been very pleased with the support I’d received up to that point across sites for various projects. That was reason I was so caught off guard by these recent events.
After laying out the activities from my perspective, Tin was able to fill me in on actions that had been taken on their side of the issues and where certain things had broken down. After hearing both sides, I think both organizations are now in a better position than they were prior to the event. Tin appreciated me taking the time to share input from a client perspective and I now feel like I’ve got a partner and team behind me from WP Engine. I’d already felt that, but this strengthened that appreciation even further.
Here’s the point. If you’re happy with the service you’ve received from someone or an organization, let them know. They’ll be happy to hear that all the hard work and effort they put into trying to do the best they can is appreciated and noticed.
This can be as simple as a “Like” on a Facebook page with a comment, taking the short bit of time to write up a Yelp review, or sending an email.
Even when things don’t go as expected, don’t immediately light your timed fuse so you can blow-up all over someone or their department and just leave destruction in your wake. If you’re upset, and I can tell you I was the most upset about this event than any event I can think of in my career, take a moment to calm down and collect your thoughts. Try to identify clearly what happened and where you think things broke down. Take the time to give that feedback to the appropriate individual and give them an opportunity to respond accordingly.
I’m sure, like WP Engine was, most companies will be more than happy to have received feedback and help make things right and improve for the future. If you give your feedback and the company or individual doesn’t respond in the way you would have hoped or expected, then take your business elsewhere.
