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Trash Service Canceled

Skin a Cat

They say there’s more than one way to skin a cat…

And, I have to admit…

I really wonder what the heck that means, and why it’s the example for there being more than one way to do things. (I suppose a google search might answer that for me, but I prefer to keep wondering…..)

But, anyway check this out.

Problems Arise

Four months ago, the company that picks up our trash changed hands, and everything went haywire.

  1. We got billed for new cans, but didn’t ask for new cans, nor did they deliver new ones.
  2. Our rate changed on bills we had already paid.
  3. They said we were behind on payments that already cleared the bank.

It was a mess AND the same thing happened to my dad who lives about a mile down the road.

This is a classic story of, “catching more flies with honey.”  (A saying I actually do understand lol!)

The Real Story

So here’s what happened:

My assistant calls the trash company.  Now, Taunja is one of the nicest people you could meet.  When you get on the phone with her, she brings the party.  She’s the kind of person that can make lifelong friends with people she meets for 5 minutes. Get the idea?

By the end of her phone call, she had Mabel (yes, great call center operator name, right?) laughing and agreeing to waive all the charges and give us the new cheap rate for trash service.  SCORE!

My dad, on the other hand, had a different experience.  

After waiting on hold for 40 minutes he was disconnected. Then he called back and waited even longer. This didn’t put my dad in the best of moods.

You can imagine how that call went.  The operator for the trash service ended the call by stating they were, “not going to negotiate.”

So, my Dad solved the problem another way.  He called the competitor and setup new service with them instead.

After that, the original company tried their best to save the account but, in the words of my mom, “your father wasn’t exactly in the mood to negotiate either.”

The Right Solution?

Here’s the thing….

Both Taunja AND my Dad solved the problem.  One solved it by bringing the party, and one did not.  You might be thinking that one way was “RIGHT” and one way was “WRONG.”  But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that it got solved.

One of the biggest values I find in our Agency Mastermind facebook group is I get exposure to different ways to solve problems.  Someone asks a question and then in an instant, there are so many good perspectives on solving it. The more options I have, the more problems I can solve.  That’s the power of community.

Get Involved!

Have a question about how to run your web or digital agency? Feel a burning desire to help others make choices about theirs? Join the group for free here:

https://agencycoach.com/facebook

And, when you do (or if you’re already in there) I’d love it if you asked YOUR question, or answered someone else’s.

Mike Schmidt
Founder
AgencyCoach