I follow Seth Godin, and this article could not have come at a better time.
What is this rant about? Large isn’t always better. I spend time to get to know you and your families, future projects and dreams, of course when you are willing to share. When you leave, I know you left, and I feel the void.
An example of a large business who doesn’t care is happening to me right now. Is anyone listening or care???? I doubt it… Or it certainly feels this way.
As some of you know I travelled to Columbia for a Kiteboarding Trip in January/February. My kiteboarding luggage was lost for 7 days by American Airlines (AA), even though I had an AirTag in my kiteboarding bag. I knew where it was, the Airline was having problems locating it for a week. They said go ahead and rent gear; we will pay. This was no easy feat because I was in a small village in Columbia. I won’t bore you with all the details on the time spent on this. When I got home and was able to gather all the receipts, once again, not an easy feat. They lost my kiteboarding gear on the way home as well.
Long story short American Airlines (AA) has denied my claim and they will not get back to me or respond to my requests to have another look at the claim. The reason it was late was their online claim process wasn’t working so I paid $90 to send a courier to Phoenix, AZ which took 2 days.
So why do we insist on dealing with these large companies who not only don’t know who I am, but obviously do not care about my business? In some cases, our choices are very limited. Sometimes the deals these large companies offer are just too good to resist.
If I stop flying American Airlines (AA), nothing will happen, they won’t notice that Pamela Glendinning has not shown up on their airline. Other people will fill my seat.
Is it possible to care at scale?
After 25 years, I stopped using a certain credit card for business. It was easily millions of dollars worth of transactions over that period. Did anyone at the company notice? Did anyone care?
I still remember losing a client in 1987. Small organizations pay attention and care very much about each and every customer. Verizon and AT&T, on the other hand, don’t even know that you and I exist.
Small family farms have significantly higher yields than neighboring farms that are much bigger. That’s because the individual farmer cares about every single stalk and frond, and the person with a lot of land is more focused on what they think of as the big picture.
But it’s pretty clear that if you add up enough small things, you get to the big one.
Caring at scale can’t be done by the CEO or a VP. But what these folks can do is create a culture that cares. They can hire people who are predisposed to care. They can pay attention to the people who care and measure things that matter instead of chasing the short term.
Large organizations have significant structural advantages. But the real impacts happen when they act like small ones.”
When I read this article, I thought I couldn’t of said it any better. Pamela Glendinning knows who you are and I care and want to work in your behalf.
If you want to work with a Broker who cares, contact Glendinning Insurance Services (250) 764-0142. We care.
we are your Trusted Advocates