It started because my 16-year-old son had outgrown the length of his twin bed. He needed a longer, larger mattress and box spring set. We thought we needed a full mattress, but we did our research and discovered that while a full mattress is wider than a twin, it’s not longer. A queen on the other hand is wider and longer. We needed a queen-sized bed.

Free Delivery and Set Up

We checked local ads and found a place that made this promise: "We will deliver, set up, and take away your old mattress." Sounded good to me. So we made the trip and settled on a set that was not too hard and not too soft and, thankfully, on sale. In other words: just right for both of us.

We placed our order with the salesperson and were informed that they would be by between 5:00 and 5:30 pm on the following Friday to deliver the new bed.

We cleared a path to his upstairs room, removing mirrors and pictures on the stairway wall. My son managed to rake away enough of his teenage “stuff” to allow a bed-sized footprint for the delivery crew.

On Friday, the delivery truck arrived, on time, as promised. Good sign. We showed them the path up to his room. One guy carried up the box containing the metal frame. Then they brought in the mattress. It was a tight squeeze between the stairway railing and the first landing, but mattresses bend. They got it into his room and went back for the box spring. Box springs, by their nature, are designed not to bend. And in fact, no matter how the workmen tipped, repositioned or approached the problem, the box spring just could not be made to clear the gap between the ceiling, landing and railing.

After 10 minutes of trial and error, it became very clear that the box spring would not make it up the stairs unless the railing was removed. I said as much. They stared at me, a glance passed between them. They carefully set the box spring down on its edge, leaning against the living room couch. His hands now free, the driver handed me the receipt and the mattress warranty...and left! They left!! They left me with a queen-sized box spring leaning in my living room, a mattress leaning against the wall in my son’s bedroom, and a metal frame assembly sitting in its box … all waiting to be brought to critical mass by...ME!

Feeling Set Up

I suppose you could say that the store kept its promise: "We will deliver, set up, and take away your old mattress." They did take away the old mattress. They did deliver the parts. And, they left me feeling...set up! Three hours later, with a collection of all the wrong tools, and my son's help, we had the railing off. A neighbor helped me wrestle the bed upstairs. My son assembled the frame. He and his cat slept soundly on the new bed that night.

Will I go back to this store when my younger son is ready for his longer bed? Not a chance! Did I call to complain? Nope. I didn't need any more aggravation. I figured: the delivery guys were a reflection of the culture of the store. The owner might have made some excuse, or pointed out some fine print in the agreement--but what kind of satisfaction would I have obtained?

Besides, I didn't want to give them the edge to decide that, as we teach in our Mastery coaching programs, every complaint is an opportunity for improvement. I didn't care if they improved. They'd had their one and only chance to make me a customer instead of just a sale, and they blew it.

It would have been a hassle for these delivery guys to remove my railing--but they probably had better tools than I did and they'd probably done it before, and they probably could have done it in under 15 minutes and left a totally satisfied source of referrals in their wake; a customer for life. But they didn't. What they did was to leave an unfulfilled, one-time-only customer. They got my money—but they didn't keep me.

Could This Be You?

How often do you think that your business disappoints a customer and they never bother to let you know? They just don't come back.

If you’ve done your marketing homework, you know how to attract the right people to your business and everything you do tells them: "Here is where you need to come to get the satisfaction you deserve. We understand your needs and are ready to respond to them in ways you have only imagined!" They show up. They buy something. And now you have to deliver. You have to make sure that you can deliver the promise they think you've made.

You better be ready to dazzle them! Think about the very best purchasing experience you've ever had. What was it like to really experience everything and more than you'd been promised? Wouldn't you like to provide your customer with that experience each and every time you have the opportunity?

Four Areas of Focus in Client Fulfillment
There are really four areas to consider in bringing maximum value to your customer.

• Product Design and Strategy: Do your products do what you promise they'll do? Are they designed with your customers' needs in mind?
• Your Production Process: No matter what you produce--donuts, career counseling, remodeled kitchens, or tai chi training--it must be of the highest quality and orchestrated to minimize cost.
• Your Delivery Process: Your delivery process is equally the physical transfer of your product or service to the customer and the experience your customer has at the time of this transfer. This is more than a hand-off and a signature. This is the critical point at which your customer must feel the BEST about the decision that's been made.
• Customer Service: This is free. This enhances the main offer. This is where you have your most critical competitive advantage. It could be additional information, follow-up assistance, advice, notice of upgrades, credit assistance or a hyper-responsive complaints department.

The only way to assure that your clients are getting exactly what it is they need every time—once you discover what that really is—is to create a system to deliver it. No promise is more important to keep than the one you make to your customers about your products or services. If you don't deliver on this promise, no marketing strategy or sales technique will keep your customers coming back. You have to prove that you're paying attention to their needs and that they can expect you to give them what they want.

Delivering on your promises is your mission.

I wish the mattress store had thought of that. I wish that it was part of their system to complete the promise they’d made to me. But they didn’t. And I won’t be back.