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I heard those magic words while doing a little shopping the other day after running my breakfast networking meeting. “Some told me…”.
Of course that is all I heard as I walked by, but I do worry how damaging gossip can be in a business sense. I always think we need to do our own research. Often a bad customer experience may be very isolated in terms of a business’s overall delivery. It is when things go wrong that people talk about the problems much more than when they receive a great service. Ironically, very often a generally exemplary service will start to be taken for granted so that when there is a minor glitch people complain far more than they would if the general service were fairly average but in line with expectations. Hence people are less likely to complain about the mail service merely because our expectations have declined over the years. Our postman is a nice guy incidentally and I wouldn’t want him to be upset. I don’t blame him.
I like Dell computers. I have three. I have always had very good customer service and support from Dell. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do proper research because we have a responsibility to our business and ourselves.
I bought a Dell branded printer a year or so back. I hadn’t done my research. Someone told me he liked his. Maybe his usage of it was very light. The printer was a real dog and far too expensive to run, plus the fax facility never worked reliably. Yes, I know there are alternatives to a fax line but that’s another matter.
I should have found out the printer was made by Lexmark and if so I wouldn’t have bought it. I have now a new HP printer. I had always previously had HP printers. They have been reliable. When one went wrong shortly after I had it, HP replaced it in a couple of days.
If someone told us that someone told them, we need to check the credibility of the story and the context in which it has been passed on. We cannot rely on tittle-tattle re purchases we make because we may not make the best buying decision. We should do our own research and listen to those we trust for recommendations.
I got it wrong with the Dell printer. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend their computers. Have you made a buying mistake as I did through lack or research or because someone told you or you told yourself?
