Recently David Sterrett of First Pres. Austin, and I have begun talking about our uses and potential uses of AccessACS. What started out as “Are you taking payments for VBS online?” turned into a “We should set up a collaboration tool so we can have an ongoing dialog about this.”
In the course of our discussions, the topic came up:
Should we invite ACS Technologies to the discussion now or wait until we are further along?
The concern was that by having them participate in the initial stages of the dialog, it might hamper some of the openness and candor we were looking for.
A quick gut check settled that question as a non-issue based on prior performance. They are known for thick skin when it comes to listening to their clients.
But it brought up another question or two:
Are all your vendors like that? When you come with a problem, do they respond or just kind of “duck, hoping you will go away”?
I used to deal with an office equipment supplier like that. When my main color MFC would act up, they kind of “ducked”. Operative words are “used to deal with”.
But more importantly, are we like this with the people we serve? Do we “duck and hope they go away”? I am not just talking about the folks who are high maintenance – but those who legitimately have needs and gripes that we should attend to. If we can’t correct it the situation, to at least offer an EXPLANATION not an EXCUSE as to why and what can be done. If someone is upset, do you want to hear it from them when you can do something about it, or from the grapevine?
I am willing to bet, the more we want to duck, the better the odds are we should take that one on the chin.
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